First Doses of Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine for Children Under Age 5 Given at Weekend LVHN Clinic

On Saturday, June 25, Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) vaccinated 334 children between the ages of 6 months and 4 years with their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

This was the first of six specific clinic dates for this age group at LVHN’s COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic–MacArthur Road in Whitehall, Pa. During the second clinic on Tuesday, June 28, 183 children received their first vaccine dose.

Kara is mom to Dean, her active 20-month-old son. As a parent, she is dedicated to keeping him safe and on track for a happy and healthy childhood. When she heard that the COVID-19 vaccine would soon be available for Dean, she started having multiple conversations with his pediatricians so she and her husband could make an informed decision.

“Being less than 2 years old, Dean has never known a world where COVID-19 wasn’t present, and throughout the pandemic, we’ve done everything we could to keep him and the rest of our loved ones safe,” Kara says. “Like most parents, I had questions about the vaccine and how it could affect my son. However, after speaking with his care team, I felt much more comfortable and knew the vaccine would help us better protect Dean and the people he interacts with.”

Dean received his vaccine during the Saturday clinic, and while some children in his age group experience mild side effects, he was fine for the remainder of the weekend.

“I was pretty worried about side effects, especially since I didn’t feel great after my own vaccines,” Kara says. “However, other than crying right after the needle, he was his usual happy self for the rest of the day. I didn’t notice any difference in his energy levels on Sunday, either. He spent his time swimming and running around with friends.”

Mary, a school nurse, was also happy for her 2-year-old daughter, Lucy, to receive her first vaccine dose at the Saturday clinic.

As a member of her local immunization coalition, she knows how effective the vaccines are at protecting older children and adults, and she felt confident in the latest research for her daughter’s age group as well.

“Scheduling Lucy’s first vaccine dose was the next step toward normal,” Mary says. “I want her to grow up seeing people’s smiles without masks and remembering the pandemic as a distant memory.”

While Lucy experienced some pain where she received her shot and felt more tired than usual on Saturday, she was back to her normal, energetic self by Sunday.

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine series for children age 6 months to 4 years is a three-shot regimen, with each dose being one-tenth the dose of the vaccine given to adults. Children receiving the vaccine series are given the first two doses three weeks apart and a third at least two months later.

There are two easy ways to schedule appointments:

1. Go to MyLVHN, the health network’s patient portal:
   Sign In or Sign Up
   You will need proxy access to your child’s MyLVHN account to schedule through the patient portal. If you do not have proxy access, please contact your child’s health care provider. If your child does not have an LVHN provider, please call 888-402-LVHN (5846).
2. Call our COVID-19 Vaccine Hotline at 833-584-6283 (833-LVHN-CVD). We’re open Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

When you come for your child’s first vaccine appointment, a staff member will provide information on how to schedule their second and third shots.