Busy pediatrician offices prepare to give vaccines to children

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Younger children will soon be able to get COVID vaccines. The rollout for Pfizer’s vaccine for five to 11-year-olds is expected next week. Many New Mexico parents are eager and anxious.

Dr. Alex Cvijanovich, president of the New Mexico Pediatric Society, said pediatric offices are expecting a surge in families wanting shots.

“A lot of pediatric offices are working hard to be able to offer the COVID vaccine in their offices for the 5-11 year olds,” she said.

Cvijanovich said pediatricians are really busy right now, but that’s typical. There’s always an increase in sick children this time of year. Still, across the state, offices are ready to give out shots.

“I do think that we will see a large surge and that’s initially doing to be a challenge,” she said.

Cvijanovich said pediatric offices will offer Pfizer COVID vaccines as part of regular check-ups, for specific appointments, and many will have larger shot clinics.

About a month ago, KOB 4 talked to her about continuing vaccine hesitancy. She’s still seeing the same trends, and she’s noticing even some vaccinated parents are hesitant to get their children a COVID vaccine.

“We have the studies in this age group that show that’s safe, but we also have the data from hundreds of millions of people who got the bigger dose, and that’s considered safe, and we’ve also been seeing, as the research has come out, that there’s fewer side effects in this age group,” Cvijanovich said.

Families can start the process right now. Parents can sign consent forms and link their vaccine profiles to their child’s.

This week, Department of Health officials talked about how the state is ready for this new age group, saying children in this age group will be able to get a shot wherever vaccines are offered right now.

“We will actually be able to have enough doses for every eligible child, in the state, in time, or within days of approval,” DOH spokesperson David Morgan said.