@@@ June COVID THREAD

[erbear]

I’m sorry for all you dealing with the uncertainty still. It sounded to me like Pfizer offered more immediate protection but moderna was longer lasting. Not that that help but maybe depending on current situation ?

[seeyalater52]

Jun 17, 2022 21:08:42 GMT -5 erbear said:

I’m sorry for all you dealing with the uncertainty still. It sounded to me like Pfizer offered more immediate protection but moderna was longer lasting. Not that that help but maybe depending on current situation ?

It’s basically the opposite. Moderna offers more immediate protection - by a lot. Pfizer’s protection after 2 doses is very poor, especially in kids over 2. You really need to complete the full 13 week series to get to full effectiveness (vs 6 for Pfizer.)

Pfizer may possibly offer higher efficacy against symptomatic infection than Moderna after 3 doses. Based on the data they currently have we don’t know this for sure. Their preliminary efficacy data has a VERY wide confidence interval. Realistically they’re likely about the same effectiveness when all is said and done but Moderna gets there in fewer shots and less time. There is also a chance that Pfizer may offer more durable protection but right now that is only a hypothesis and it’s controversial. There is no data to show this as the data from the 3rd doses is only about 2 months deep right now. Moderna has been more durable in adults which is hypothesized to correlate with the higher dosing (across all age groups) so if that holds true here Moderna 2 doses may be comparable to or even better than Pfizer’s 3 small doses in terms of longevity. Moderna will have a booster dose for this group expected in the fall though (today they said “early fall” - we’ll see. It’s meant to space 3 months from 2nd dose.)

In mcppalmbeach’s case I’d lean toward Moderna for the newly 5 year old if you can find it because the duration from 5-11 primary series to booster with Pfizer is pretty long and while it’s hard to compare the 5+ vaccine with Moderna in terms of protection against Omicron I’m more confident in Moderna’s omicron era data than I am Pfizer’s earlier 5-11 trial at this point. The 10 year old is moot because Moderna isn’t approved as a booster for that age group yet, they’ll have to get Pfizer.

[seeyalater52]

The ACIP panel was pretty ruthless on Pfizer today so I’m hoping that the final recommendations help to parse this out better because their decision to review them both at the same time (and Moderna months after submitted and Pfizer before it was really ready for primetime 🙄) is genuinely confusing to normal people.

I’ve made an unhealthy obsessive hobby of using my epi degree to review the data until my head has basically exploded off my body but that is neither reasonable or desirable for parents or even pediatricians to need to do to make sense of it.

[maddiepaddy]

Jun 17, 2022 18:08:14 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

Jun 17, 2022 17:12:39 GMT -5 mskitkat said:

Access to the booster is also a major motivator for us to stay in the trial. According to their statements at both meetings this week, Moderna will be offering regular and bivalent boosters to the current <6 trial kids. It isn’t clear how it will be determined who gets what. A few sites seem to be crossing placebo kids over into a new bivalent original series study but that is less common (ours isn’t 😭) I have hope that the placebo kids in particular will get a bivalent booster bc I think that protocol amendment will be finished by then for sure.

I was told that we would have a choice between the bivalent and regular booster at my site and that we’d be eligible for either. Hopefully the choice will be offered everywhere.

[seeyalater52]

Jun 18, 2022 0:45:25 GMT -5 maddiepaddy said:

Jun 17, 2022 18:08:14 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

I was told that we would have a choice between the bivalent and regular booster at my site and that we’d be eligible for either. Hopefully the choice will be offered everywhere.

I highly doubt IRB would approve a study design that allowed people to choose between the two across the board, but that would be amazing!

[seeyalater52]

maddiepaddy I think the quote got messed up but I highly doubt IRB would approve a study design that allowed people to choose between the two across the board. If so that would be amazing!

[Velar Fricative]

My new 5yo just got Pfizer. I really don’t care for the comparisons between vaccines. We know they all offer protection against severe disease and death and in a time when reinfections are common and the vaccines only offer a smaller reduction in infection than we thought and hoped, that’s the most I care about. Just like I felt last year, get a vaccine that’s available to you and it will be a relief no matter what.

I’m a little sensitive on this because my 7yo nephew had to go to the hospital this week because his second bout with covid is much worse than his first bout with covid back in January. He’s unvaccinated because his father is a shitty person. I don’t care what vaccine brand he could have gotten, because I feel reasonably certain a visit to the hospital wouldn’t have happened if he had gotten *something.* Even now the doctors haven’t been able to persuade his father to get him vaccinated in about 90 days.

[seeyalater52]

Jun 18, 2022 7:15:53 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

My new 5yo just got Pfizer. I really don’t care for the comparisons between vaccines. We know they all offer protection against severe disease and death and in a time when reinfections are common and the vaccines only offer a smaller reduction in infection than we thought and hoped, that’s the most I care about. Just like I felt last year, get a vaccine that’s available to you and it will be a relief no matter what.

I’m a little sensitive on this because my 7yo nephew had to go to the hospital this week because his second bout with covid is much worse than his first bout with covid back in January. He’s unvaccinated because his father is a shitty person. I don’t care what vaccine brand he could have gotten, because I feel reasonably certain a visit to the hospital wouldn’t have happened if he had gotten *something.* Even now the doctors haven’t been able to persuade his father to get him vaccinated in about 90 days.

In general I agree with you. The best vaccine is the one you can get now, full stop. More broadly I don’t necessarily think one is even better than the other in most meaningful ways in terms of protection *after the full series is conplete*

But it is important to emphasize that the timeline to protection is different between the two under 5 choices in a way that isn’t true for Pfizer vs Moderna in any other age group. Two doses of Pfizer’s series for kids under 5 are NOT expected to be protective against severe disease and death. You need the 3rd primary dose to get that protection. The reason this is significant is because that protection takes a lot of time: it is 13 weeks from starting that series to meaningful protection. There is no meaningful protection after dose 2 of that series. The 3rd dose isn’t a booster, it is necessary to get the series to provide the same protection offered by the other 2 dose MRNA vaccines. This is very different from all of the other series and not comparable to Pfizer’s 5-11 dose with the booster, which does offer protection against severe illness and outcomes after 2 doses.

That is not to criticize either vaccine or to recommend one over the other. They’re both great vaccines that accomplish what we primarily need to do right now. Everyone should get the first one they can and because the rollout has been messy and resulted in very uneven access across manufacturers I expect most parents will by default get their kids Pfizer because it is very difficult to find anyone who will offer the Moderna vax for this age group. That may change with time but that won’t help this first wave of people trying to get protection now. But some comparison is needed to explain the differences between the two so people can be informed about what to expect from the vaccine they get.

[erbear]

Jun 17, 2022 21:46:43 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

Jun 17, 2022 21:08:42 GMT -5 erbear said:

I’m sorry for all you dealing with the uncertainty still. It sounded to me like Pfizer offered more immediate protection but moderna was longer lasting. Not that that help but maybe depending on current situation ?

It’s basically the opposite. Moderna offers more immediate protection - by a lot. Pfizer’s protection after 2 doses is very poor, especially in kids over 2. You really need to complete the full 13 week series to get to full effectiveness (vs 6 for Pfizer.)

Pfizer may possibly offer higher efficacy against symptomatic infection than Moderna after 3 doses. Based on the data they currently have we don’t know this for sure. Their preliminary efficacy data has a VERY wide confidence interval. Realistically they’re likely about the same effectiveness when all is said and done but Moderna gets there in fewer shots and less time. There is also a chance that Pfizer may offer more durable protection but right now that is only a hypothesis and it’s controversial. There is no data to show this as the data from the 3rd doses is only about 2 months deep right now. Moderna has been more durable in adults which is hypothesized to correlate with the higher dosing (across all age groups) so if that holds true here Moderna 2 doses may be comparable to or even better than Pfizer’s 3 small doses in terms of longevity. Moderna will have a booster dose for this group expected in the fall though (today they said “early fall” - we’ll see. It’s meant to space 3 months from 2nd dose.)

In mcppalmbeach’s case I’d lean toward Moderna for the newly 5 year old if you can find it because the duration from 5-11 primary series to booster with Pfizer is pretty long and while it’s hard to compare the 5+ vaccine with Moderna in terms of protection against Omicron I’m more confident in Moderna’s omicron era data than I am Pfizer’s earlier 5-11 trial at this point. The 10 year old is moot because Moderna isn’t approved as a booster for that age group yet, they’ll have to get Pfizer.

Got it. I’m just sorry that there is still so much guesswork and balancing that parents of the youngest kids have to do.

[wanderingback]

Jun 18, 2022 8:30:49 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

Jun 18, 2022 7:15:53 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

My new 5yo just got Pfizer. I really don’t care for the comparisons between vaccines. We know they all offer protection against severe disease and death and in a time when reinfections are common and the vaccines only offer a smaller reduction in infection than we thought and hoped, that’s the most I care about. Just like I felt last year, get a vaccine that’s available to you and it will be a relief no matter what.

I’m a little sensitive on this because my 7yo nephew had to go to the hospital this week because his second bout with covid is much worse than his first bout with covid back in January. He’s unvaccinated because his father is a shitty person. I don’t care what vaccine brand he could have gotten, because I feel reasonably certain a visit to the hospital wouldn’t have happened if he had gotten *something.* Even now the doctors haven’t been able to persuade his father to get him vaccinated in about 90 days.

In general I agree with you. The best vaccine is the one you can get now, full stop. More broadly I don’t necessarily think one is even better than the other in most meaningful ways in terms of protection *after the full series is conplete*

But it is important to emphasize that the timeline to protection is different between the two under 5 choices in a way that isn’t true for Pfizer vs Moderna in any other age group. Two doses of Pfizer’s series for kids under 5 are NOT expected to be protective against severe disease and death. You need the 3rd primary dose to get that protection. The reason this is significant is because that protection takes a lot of time: it is 13 weeks from starting that series to meaningful protection. There is no meaningful protection after dose 2 of that series. The 3rd dose isn’t a booster, it is necessary to get the series to provide the same protection offered by the other 2 dose MRNA vaccines. This is very different from all of the other series and not comparable to Pfizer’s 5-11 dose with the booster, which does offer protection against severe illness and outcomes after 2 doses.

That is not to criticize either vaccine or to recommend one over the other. They’re both great vaccines that accomplish what we primarily need to do right now. Everyone should get the first one they can and because the rollout has been messy and resulted in very uneven access across manufacturers I expect most parents will by default get their kids Pfizer because it is very difficult to find anyone who will offer the Moderna vax for this age group. That may change with time but that won’t help this first wave of people trying to get protection now. But some comparison is needed to explain the differences between the two so people can be informed about what to expect from the vaccine they get.

Thats interesting that it will be harder to find moderna, do you know why? In my city at the major vaccine hubs for under 5 they said they’ll be offering moderna and that Pfizer will be available at other locations (I guess non-city funded locations). When we got the notice to be able to order vaccines we had the choice to pick between moderna and Pfizer so it seems like health care facilities here have the option of both. Maybe that’s not the case everywhere else?

[noodleoo]

I’m anxiously awaiting the actual approvals, but I want Moderna for my 3.5 year old. I hope it isn’t true that it will be hard to get. I’d like to get her vaccinated asap but I have no idea where. Our pedi office said they will start making appts 6/24 but said they will be very limited and we should look elsewhere as well. Gee thx for that. 🙄 I’m in Ma so the uptake will likely be higher than the rest of the US but even for the 5-11 group, the initial rush to get kids vaxxed was over in about 3 weeks.

Even amongst my friends who all rushed to get our 1st graders vaxxed back in the fall, I’m not sure how many got them boosted. We did DD1 right after it was approved for her age and it was easy to find an appt (not true when it was first approved). Most of us have had Covid this year, so I think the urgency wore off.

[seeyalater52]

Jun 18, 2022 8:46:40 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Jun 18, 2022 8:30:49 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

In general I agree with you. The best vaccine is the one you can get now, full stop. More broadly I don’t necessarily think one is even better than the other in most meaningful ways in terms of protection *after the full series is conplete*

But it is important to emphasize that the timeline to protection is different between the two under 5 choices in a way that isn’t true for Pfizer vs Moderna in any other age group. Two doses of Pfizer’s series for kids under 5 are NOT expected to be protective against severe disease and death. You need the 3rd primary dose to get that protection. The reason this is significant is because that protection takes a lot of time: it is 13 weeks from starting that series to meaningful protection. There is no meaningful protection after dose 2 of that series. The 3rd dose isn’t a booster, it is necessary to get the series to provide the same protection offered by the other 2 dose MRNA vaccines. This is very different from all of the other series and not comparable to Pfizer’s 5-11 dose with the booster, which does offer protection against severe illness and outcomes after 2 doses.

That is not to criticize either vaccine or to recommend one over the other. They’re both great vaccines that accomplish what we primarily need to do right now. Everyone should get the first one they can and because the rollout has been messy and resulted in very uneven access across manufacturers I expect most parents will by default get their kids Pfizer because it is very difficult to find anyone who will offer the Moderna vax for this age group. That may change with time but that won’t help this first wave of people trying to get protection now. But some comparison is needed to explain the differences between the two so people can be informed about what to expect from the vaccine they get.

Thats interesting that it will be harder to find moderna, do you know why? In my city at the major vaccine hubs for under 5 they said they’ll be offering moderna and that Pfizer will be available at other locations (I guess non-city funded locations). When we got the notice to be able to order vaccines we had the choice to pick between moderna and Pfizer so it seems like health care facilities here have the option of both. Maybe that’s not the case everywhere else?

Your city is a major outlier on that and I was really impressed about the city run clinics carrying Moderna! I’ve been working with a group of advocates on the rollout in states across the country and I haven’t seen a single other public vaccine site stock Moderna. Out of hundreds of planned clinics (and those clinics are concentrated in a handful of states bc a lot of states and cities have ended mass clinics at this point.) Moderna ordering is behind Pfizer’s overall but not by a huge amount (maybe about 50% lower overall for wave 1 ordering.) I can only assume that some combination of the “known quantity” of Pfizer already having peds vaccines and familiarity with the protocol/timeline, skepticism that Moderna would be approved since their older age cohorts were so delayed, and misinformation about Pfizer’s efficacy numbers driven by the irresponsible release of that bogus 80% efficacy number to the press without the corresponding (huge) confidence interval.

If I had to guess most of the Moderna orders went to retail pharmacy chains which is only helpful if your kid is 3+ and you can get vaccinated there.



Now that they’re both approved and hopefully ACIP helps to clarify the actual recommendation and decision-making it will even out more. It is really difficult for parents who want Moderna for timing reasons bc a lot of their peds offices either aren’t offering the vaccine or are only offering Pfizer; practices that are offering Moderna don’t have enough supply to and usually as a matter of policy won’t vaccinate non-patients. If we weren’t in the trial we wouldn’t be able to find Moderna unless we went to NYC (not sure if the clinics are resident only though) and we are willing to drive a pretty big radius. It’s confusing to me but it’s a legitimate concern with the info we have now about what vaccination will look like over the next two weeks - and beyond that we are really slipping into the territory of not having full protection by the time school year starts even with Moderna’s much shorter timeline.

[turboteal]

My pedi office confirmed my 3.5 yo can get her vaccine once her 10 day isolation is over (that was done on Tuesday), so she is scheduled for her first shot next Friday. FYI for Houston and Austin area folks, Texas Children's Hospital is offering a choice of both types, so we are getting moderna since it is one less shot.

[seeyalater52]

Jun 18, 2022 8:58:02 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

I’m anxiously awaiting the actual approvals, but I want Moderna for my 3.5 year old. I hope it isn’t true that it will be hard to get. I’d like to get her vaccinated asap but I have no idea where. Our pedi office said they will start making appts 6/24 but said they will be very limited and we should look elsewhere as well. Gee thx for that. 🙄 I’m in Ma so the uptake will likely be higher than the rest of the US but even for the 5-11 group, the initial rush to get kids vaxxed was over in about 3 weeks.

Even amongst my friends who all rushed to get our 1st graders vaxxed back in the fall, I’m not sure how many got them boosted. We did DD1 right after it was approved for her age and it was easy to find an appt (not true when it was first approved). Most of us have had Covid this year, so I think the urgency wore off.

I’d try to find a pharmacy appt at CVS or Walgreens since your kid is over 3. I’d be surprised if there weren’t retail pharmacies carrying Moderna that will open up appt slots after the CDC sign off this weekend. (Probably the same stores that have offered Moderna previously.)

Not sure where you’re specifically located but some other options I’ve come across in MA that will have Moderna:
MGH clinic in Newton (it’s full for this coming week but they will open up more clinics eventually) Other MGH clinics may also stock Moderna.
Harvard Vanguard/Atrius is also going to stock Moderna but I’m not sure if it will only be available for current patients.
Boston Children’s will run clinics but so far they’re only planning Pfizer. I assume given the caliber of the hospital that they will order more Moderna in phase 2 now that the data is out and looks great.

[maddiepaddy]

Jun 18, 2022 6:58:25 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

maddiepaddy I think the quote got messed up but I highly doubt IRB would approve a study design that allowed people to choose between the two across the board. If so that would be amazing!

Yeah, I see your point! I’m going in next week and will ask again and see what they say.

[akayf]

Booster question for the 5-11 crowd. My 11 year old got his 2 shots of Pfizer back in November. So he’s currently eligible for a booster. He is obsessively vigilant about wearing his mask to the point that at lunch time, he pulls it down to take a bite and then pulls it back up to chew and swallow(his lunches are basically homemade lunchables/charcuterie boards it’s easy to pull mask up and down). Since he is so vigilant and everyone else in the family is vaccinated and boosted, I felt okay not rushing to get him boosted right away. We have a family vacation to Disney at the end of August. I was planning on getting him his booster at the end of July so he would be freshly boosted for our COVID land vacation and the start of middle school. He’s a strong kid and definitely marches to his drum. However, I know peer pressure in middle school is intense and hardly any kids in the middle school wear masks(as reported by my older kid who is currently in 8th).

Would you get a moderna booster instead? My 8th grader and DH both got Pfizer 3x. I got moderna 3x. We do have a well visit in mid July and I’ll ask the pedi then(maybe he can just get the booster then along with his other shots).

[seeyalater52]

Jun 18, 2022 10:53:00 GMT -5 akayf said:

Booster question for the 5-11 crowd. My 11 year old got his 2 shots of Pfizer back in November. So he’s currently eligible for a booster. He is obsessively vigilant about wearing his mask to the point that at lunch time, he pulls it down to take a bite and then pulls it back up to chew and swallow(his lunches are basically homemade lunchables/charcuterie boards it’s easy to pull mask up and down). Since he is so vigilant and everyone else in the family is vaccinated and boosted, I felt okay not rushing to get him boosted right away. We have a family vacation to Disney at the end of August. I was planning on getting him his booster at the end of July so he would be freshly boosted for our COVID land vacation and the start of middle school. He’s a strong kid and definitely marches to his drum. However, I know peer pressure in middle school is intense and hardly any kids in the middle school wear masks(as reported by my older kid who is currently in 8th).

Would you get a moderna booster instead? My 8th grader and DH both got Pfizer 3x. I got moderna 3x. We do have a well visit in mid July and I’ll ask the pedi then(maybe he can just get the booster then along with his other shots).

There is no Moderna booster for that age group approved yet and it isn’t clear that there will be by later this summer either. Based on what they said this week they will be locking data and close to submission in mid July but it may be some time before it is approved even if it happens on that schedule. He should probably get the Pfizer booster.

[akayf]

Jun 18, 2022 11:20:37 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

Jun 18, 2022 10:53:00 GMT -5 akayf said:

Booster question for the 5-11 crowd. My 11 year old got his 2 shots of Pfizer back in November. So he’s currently eligible for a booster. He is obsessively vigilant about wearing his mask to the point that at lunch time, he pulls it down to take a bite and then pulls it back up to chew and swallow(his lunches are basically homemade lunchables/charcuterie boards it’s easy to pull mask up and down). Since he is so vigilant and everyone else in the family is vaccinated and boosted, I felt okay not rushing to get him boosted right away. We have a family vacation to Disney at the end of August. I was planning on getting him his booster at the end of July so he would be freshly boosted for our COVID land vacation and the start of middle school. He’s a strong kid and definitely marches to his drum. However, I know peer pressure in middle school is intense and hardly any kids in the middle school wear masks(as reported by my older kid who is currently in 8th).

Would you get a moderna booster instead? My 8th grader and DH both got Pfizer 3x. I got moderna 3x. We do have a well visit in mid July and I’ll ask the pedi then(maybe he can just get the booster then along with his other shots).

There is no Moderna booster for that age group approved yet and it isn’t clear that there will be by later this summer either. Based on what they said this week they will be locking data and close to submission in mid July but it may be some time before it is approved even if it happens on that schedule. He should probably get the Pfizer booster.

Oops. I assumed that since moderna was finally approved for all ages that it would be an option for boosters.

[seeyalater52]

Jun 18, 2022 12:37:14 GMT -5 akayf said:

Jun 18, 2022 11:20:37 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

There is no Moderna booster for that age group approved yet and it isn’t clear that there will be by later this summer either. Based on what they said this week they will be locking data and close to submission in mid July but it may be some time before it is approved even if it happens on that schedule. He should probably get the Pfizer booster.

Oops. I assumed that since moderna was finally approved for all ages that it would be an option for boosters.

Sadly the booster trials are separate. The Moderna 6+ for just primary series should be signed off by the CDC and available after the ACIP meeting this coming week.

[seeyalater52]

ACIP officially voted to recommend both vaccines today. CDC director expected to sign off tonight so that the vaccination rollout can begin on schedule after wave one doses are delivered 6/20.

[jeaniebueller]

@askayf go ahead and get him his Pfizer booster now and don’t worry about the Moderna v Pfizer issue. My entire family got the Pfizer. My oldest never caught Covid and the rest of us had very mild cases.

[karinothing]

Jun 17, 2022 17:12:39 GMT -5 mskitkat said:

Jun 17, 2022 14:57:21 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

I’m so sorry. We are also confirmed placebo as of our unblinding today and will cross over on Wednesday morning.

I’m confused about the recent infection delaying - ACIP is talking about it this weekend but unless the study has a special ban on vaccination post-infection it shouldn’t cause any delay once the child is finished with the 10 day isolation period/testing negative. It is VERY unlikely that the approval for either vaccine will require a waiting period beyond that so in your shoes I’d drop withdraw from the trial and get the vaccine elsewhere according to whatever the rules are. There’s no reason you need to wait until august but I’m sorry this is added stress right now.

The Moderna person said that the CDC recommendation is 3 months after a recent infection, and that our pediatrician likely wouldn’t do it either. I’ll call my pediatrician and see what they say.

There’s also the potential that we could be offered a new bivalent vaccine. A doctor friend of mine heard that was being offered to some of the placebo families, and she thinks it’s worthwhile to stay in if we can be offered that.

I dont think this is true anymore. This is back before delta. They used to think you didn't need a vaccine until 90 days but now they know you can get reinfected with a different one strand pretty much immediately.

We have had covid twice and received booster 14 days after in November and 10 days after this week

[noodleoo]

Covid vaccine appts for under 5 are live on Walgreens! Unfortunately all the sites near me are Pfizer. There’s one doing Moderna but it’s pretty far and first appt isn’t until 7/1. I’m going to wait and see if I can find Moderna closer. CVS still hasn’t updated their site.

Can I also say how annoying it is that this finally happened but it is over a holiday weekend? We just can’t catch a break! 😡

[scm1011]

We have a Moderna appt for DD on 6/30, woot! Mostly Pfizer around here and the Moderna slots filled up fast.

[lemoncupcake]

As if to highlight how forgotten our kids have been, the freakin CDC vaccine appointment search hasn't even been updated to search for under 5 appointments
www.vaccines.gov/search/

[seeyalater52]

Jun 19, 2022 11:37:42 GMT -5 lemoncupcake said:

As if to highlight how forgotten our kids have been, the freakin CDC vaccine appointment search hasn't even been updated to search for under 5 appointments
www.vaccines.gov/search/

It won’t be live for under 5 vaccines until the 23rd because apparently 6 months of delays wasn’t long enough for them to bother to plan ahead. Absurd.

When it does go live I’ll be interested to see if you can search by age and manufacturer but I’m not optimistic about age given the admin talking point about the high percentage of kids who live within 5 miles of a pharmacy location - not helpful for the many many kids in this age bracket who are too young to be allowed to get vaxed in a pharmacy.

Good luck to everyone trying to find their doses.

[Mushe]

Soooo close to vaccine time, and we got a direct exposure notice for our 3yo last night. 🤦‍♀️ they’ll let us test to stay, so fun times ahead. She (and I) had COVID in January, so I’m hoping she stays well this time.

[lacey]

Annoying WWYD question:

We have an international flight on the evening of July 21st. My 4 year old is finally eligible for a vaccine *dances*

I have a Moderna appointment 6/25, which is too late for him to receive the 2nd dose 4 weeks later. I have a “schedule a second vaccine” appointment for 7/21 before we leave. I am a little concerned they won’t do the second shot before the 4 weeks even though it falls within the 4 day grace window the CDC gives. I’m also a little concerned about side effects on the flight and the first couple of days, but at this point a Wednesday or Thursday before we leave Thursday night is about as good as it’s going to get.

I could also get a Pfizer appointment on 6/24, which would give him the second shot a week before we leave. Good from a side effect perspective but my understanding is that there is essentially no protection after the second shot for Pfizer.

I’m hoping CVS or one of the major hospitals will open up appointments for Wednesday but whether I can get an appointment and whether Moderna will be available are still question marks. If another option does not present itself, would you do Moderna or Pfizer?

[seeyalater52]

Jun 20, 2022 9:03:40 GMT -5 lacey said:

Annoying WWYD question:

We have an international flight on the evening of July 21st. My 4 year old is finally eligible for a vaccine *dances*

I have a Moderna appointment 6/25, which is too late for him to receive the 2nd dose 4 weeks later. I have a “schedule a second vaccine” appointment for 7/21 before we leave. I am a little concerned they won’t do the second shot before the 4 weeks even though it falls within the 4 day grace window the CDC gives. I’m also a little concerned about side effects on the flight and the first couple of days, but at this point a Wednesday or Thursday before we leave Thursday night is about as good as it’s going to get.

I could also get a Pfizer appointment on 6/24, which would give him the second shot a week before we leave. Good from a side effect perspective but my understanding is that there is essentially no protection after the second shot for Pfizer.

I’m hoping CVS or one of the major hospitals will open up appointments for Wednesday but whether I can get an appointment and whether Moderna will be available are still question marks. If another option does not present itself, would you do Moderna or Pfizer?

I’d print out the CDC 4 day window guidance and bring it with you. How long will you be abroad? If you need to space the 2nd dose out another couple of weeks until you’re back that should be fine. There is even some theories that it would increase immune response, and it’s allowable under the CDC guidance. 1 dose of Moderna doesn’t provide measurable protection any more than 2 of Pfizer (or at least the data isn’t good enough to say for sure) but even with a couple week delay you’d still come out faster to full protection with Moderna.

I’d do Moderna in your situation but I’m sorry for the headache, that timing is very frustrating and makes me wish we had gotten to this point weeks or months ago! So many people in this same situation with travel plans and racing against the school year start.

[lemoncupcake]

Jun 20, 2022 9:03:40 GMT -5 lacey said:

Annoying WWYD question:

We have an international flight on the evening of July 21st. My 4 year old is finally eligible for a vaccine *dances*

I have a Moderna appointment 6/25, which is too late for him to receive the 2nd dose 4 weeks later. I have a “schedule a second vaccine” appointment for 7/21 before we leave. I am a little concerned they won’t do the second shot before the 4 weeks even though it falls within the 4 day grace window the CDC gives. I’m also a little concerned about side effects on the flight and the first couple of days, but at this point a Wednesday or Thursday before we leave Thursday night is about as good as it’s going to get.

I could also get a Pfizer appointment on 6/24, which would give him the second shot a week before we leave. Good from a side effect perspective but my understanding is that there is essentially no protection after the second shot for Pfizer.

I’m hoping CVS or one of the major hospitals will open up appointments for Wednesday but whether I can get an appointment and whether Moderna will be available are still question marks. If another option does not present itself, would you do Moderna or Pfizer?

How long is your trip? Doing it when you get back might make more sense