Older teens can get the COVID vaccine; here's how to find the right one
Starting April 7, North Carolina opened up vaccine eligibility to all adults, along with a tiny sliver of North Carolina's children -- ages 16 and 17.
Posted — UpdatedStarting April 7, North Carolina opened up vaccine eligibility to all adults, along with a tiny sliver of the state's children — ages 16 and 17. It's an important step in the fight against the ongoing pandemic, experts say, and will provide another layer of protection against the coronavirus as more people are vaccinated. And now, after jockeying to get their own shots, plenty of parents are trying to line up slots for their older teens.
Dr. Peyton Thompson, a pediatrician and assistant professor of pediatric infectious diseases at UNC's School of Medicine, said getting your older teens vaccinated is the right move. Research shows that the vaccine is safe and effective.
"I would definitely recommend getting the vaccine," Dr. Thompson said. "I would vaccinated my own teen if I had one. I think the vaccines are really going to be our key to getting some semblance of normal. I think parents will feel a lot better about their teens going back to school in the fall and having them resume sports and other activities."
Continued mask wearing and social distancing, along with getting as many people vaccinated as possible, is key to ending the pandemic, she said, especially as new variants of the virus emerge, which could jeopardize the effectiveness of the vaccines.
"We really need the vaccines in combination with continuing to wear masks and continued distancing," she said. "We don't know what's going to come of all these variants and how it's going to affect our vaccines."
Side effects for teens who get the vaccine appear to be no different than the symptoms their parents endured when they got the vaccine. There's some arm pain and, in some cases, body aches, fever and chills, often after the second shot. Those symptoms, Dr. Thompson said, mean the vaccine is working. "It seems like reactions are more common in younger adults and older adolescents than the older adult population," she said.
She experienced some arm pain after her first shot and body aches, fever and chills after the second. "I had the whole nine yards," she said. "And I was actually very excited when I had that reaction because I knew the vaccine was working and my immune system was responding to it."
How to find the Pfizer vaccine for teens
While teens are eligible to get the vaccine, it's not always easy to determine who is offering the Pfizer version. Often parents or teens will need to take an extra step to ensure that the clinic or pop-up vaccine location has the correct option. Here's how to make sure your teen is signed up for the right vaccine.
UNC Health
Duke Health
WakeMed
Wake County
"Teens ages 16 and 17 can get the Pfizer vaccine anywhere it is available through Wake County Public Health," Alice Avery, Wake County senior communications consultant, tells me. "Currently, after you sign up for our waiting list, you will receive an email asking you to make an appointment. That email will list out the locations and which vaccine is planned where. All you have to do is choose one that is offering Pfizer."
Johnston County
Durham County
North Carolina's Take My Shot
As parents and teens have conversations about the vaccine, Dr. Thompson said it was critical that teens are getting their information from reliable sources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics and their pediatricians. "I would just caution teens to not rely solely on social media for information about vaccines," she said.
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