Getting a COVID-19 vaccination can protect your child 5 years and older from getting COVID-19. It can also protect your child from severe disease, hospitalizations, or developing long-term complications if they do get COVID-19.
In the COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials that were conducted with thousands of children, no serious safety concerns were identified after vaccination, and side effects were mild and did not have any lasting effects. Some children will not have any side effects and serious side effects are rare.
Unlike the mild side effects that some may experience after vaccination, children who get infected with COVID-19 are at risk of getting very sick. As of October 2021, children ages 5 through 11 years have experienced more than 8,300 COVID-19 related hospitalizations and nearly 100 deaths from COVID-19. In fact, COVID-19 ranks as one of the top 10 causes of death for children aged 5 through 11 years. Additionally, children can experience both short and long-term conditions after infection. Children who get infected with COVID-19 can also develop post-COVID conditions that can last for several weeks or longer and can also develop serious complications like multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C)—a condition where different body parts become inflamed. From April 2020 to October 2021, more than 2,300 cases of MIS-C have been reported in children ages 5 through 11 years.
Learn more about the benefits of getting vaccinated.