Here's how to schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment for your child

FENCE. HERE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS IS DR. DANIEL KURITZKES, CHIEFF O INFECTIOUS DISEASEATS BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITA DR. KURITZKES, GOOD TOEE S YOU. >> THEY ARE CUTE KIDS. BEN: DR. KURITZKES, NOW THAT THIS IS A DONE DEAL, HOW IMPORTANT IS IT IN THE FIGHT TO FINALLY END THIS PANDEMIC? IS THIS SPTE GETTING THE 5SE TO 11-YEAR-OLDS VACCINATED? >> IT'S BECOMING IMPORTANT. LAST YEART A THE BEGINNING OF THE EPIDEMIC, IT'S TRUE THAT MOST OF THE CASES WERE IN OLDER ADULTS. THAT'S PARTLY BECAUSE KIDS WERE LOCKED AWAY AT HOME. NOW WE'RE SEEING THAT KIDS ARE REALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR FUELING THE EPIDEMIC, 10% OF CASES ACROSS THE COUNTRY HEAV OCCURRED IN YOUNG CHILDREN AND HERE IN MASSACHUSETTS, SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 20% AND 25% OF CASES ARE OCCURRGIN IN CHILDREN. ERIKA: NOW THAT KIDS ACROSS THE COUNTRY ARE GETTING THEIR SHOTS, WHAT DO YOU EXPECT TO SEE, IN TERMS OF ANY SIDE EFFECTS OR REACONS?TI WHAT'S NORMAL? >> THE SIDE EFFECTS ARE PRETTY MUCH THE SAME WE'VE SEEN IN ADULTS. KIDS CAN EECXPT TO HAVE PAIN AT THE INJECTION SITE. THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE AND OUCH THERE. HEADACHE, SEOM MUSCLE AESCH AND PAIN AND LOW GRADE FEVER. THEY ARE LESS COMMON IN CHILDREN 5 TO 11 THAN IN OLDER CHILDREN. BEN: WE OWKN THERE ARE PARENTS WHO STILL HAVE CONCERNS ABOU THIS. REI ALLY DON'T THINK THE NUMBERS ARE HIGH IN NEW ENGLAND. WE KNOW TTHA THE FDA AND CDC HAS SIGNED OFF. BASED ON THE SIGNS, WHAT'S YOUR BEST ARGUMENT TO CONVINCE THEM TO GIVE THEIR KIDS THE ESSHOTS? >> THERE ARE COUPLE OF THING PELEOP SHOULD REALI.ZE THE NUMBER OF HOSPITALIZATIONS THAT WE'RE SEEING IN CHILDREN FROM COVID NOW IS APPROACHING WHAT WE SEE FROM FLU IN A BAD UFL YEAR. WE VACCINATE AGAINST FLU. THERE ARE ACTUALLY MEOR DEATHS FROM COVID PER YEAR IN THE LAST TWO YEARS THAN WHAT WE USED TO SEINE TERMS OF DEAS FROM BACTERIAL MENINGITIS OR GERMAN MEASLES. WE WANT KIDS TIE IN SCHOOL AND NOT BRING DISEASE HOME TO VULNERABLE PEOPLE IN THE HOUSEHOLD. ERIKA: LOOKING AHE.AD MANY FAMILIES ARE NOW IN THE MIDST OF MAKING TRAVEL PLANS FOR THE HOLIDAYS, SOMETHING WE COULDN'T REALLY DO LAST YEAR. WHAT SHOULD WE BE THINKING ABOUT IN TERMS OF PRECAUTIONS THAT WILL NEED TOE B TAKEN, EVEN IF EVERYONE IS VACCINATED? >> SHOULD KNOW WHERE YOUR GOING. MAKE SURE THAT THE PEOPLE YOU WILL BE MEETING WHIT ARE VACCINATED. DON'T TRAVEL IF YOUE'R SICK. BE AWARE WHOM YOU MIGHT BE BRINGING SOMETHING BACK TO WHEN YOU RETURN IF THERERE A VULNERABLE PEOPLINE YOUR HOUSE H HOUSEHOLD. ERIKA: SHOULD BE A NICE FINALLY FEELING TO CELEBRATE WITH FAMILY, VACCINES ARE OUT THERE. THANK YOU, DR. KURIT

Now that health officials in the U.S. have issued emergency use authorization for a vaccine for younger children, the next step in vaccinating children is families finding the nearest dose.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended Tuesday that children ages 5 to 11 get a version of Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine that is about one-third the dose given to kids 12 and older and adults.Pfizer began packing up pediatric doses to be distributed shortly after, with the company saying 11 million doses are expected to go out in the first 10 days — but some families may not know the best way to get a vaccination for their children.The first step is to call your pediatrician's office and see when their next appointment is available, Dr. Leana Wen, a CNN medical analyst, said.If the wait time is just a matter of days, Wen said she would wait and take the appointment. For those who are booked for weeks, it may be best to get on a waitlist with the physician and look for other options.Chain and local pharmacies can be the next stop, recommended Wen, who is also an emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health."Make sure to mention your child's exact age, as some places may not give shots to young kids. If they are not sure yet, call back the next day — a lot is changing very quickly," she said.Walgreens announced its pharmacies will begin administering pediatric COVID-19 vaccines across the nation beginning Saturday. Parents and guardians are able to make appointments on the website for the first vaccine dose shipments, and more appointments will become available as more shipments arrive, the company said in a news release.Local health departments may also be able to provide information on vaccine clinics, Wen added.More than half of U.S. states do not specify that their vaccinations are for residents only, meaning if you have trouble securing an appointment locally, you may be able to be vaccinated in a nearby state.Families should get kids vaccinated as soon as possible, experts sayThe recommendation of the vaccine to children should be a cause for celebration, but it's understandable if parents still have questions, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on ABC's "Good Morning America" Wednesday."We are now beginning to roll out, to distribute the vaccine, to give parents the information that they need," she said. "Go talk to your pediatrician, your trusted health care provider, your pharmacist and get the information that you need as we start scaling up vaccine across this country." The U.S. has been preparing for children to become eligible for the vaccine, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN Wednesday that officials plan to make doses available quickly."That was what the preparedness was about," Fauci said. "It's a good thing. We'll hit the ground running and probably by the beginning of next week, we'll be at full speed."Children won't have the chance to be fully vaccinated — which is two weeks after their second dose — by Thanksgiving or Hanukkah, but with a first appointment by November 19, they can have full protection for Christmas, Kwanzaa and end-of-year gatherings.If families and friends are getting together indoors for the holidays, it is crucial that children who can be vaccinated are, Wen said."There is a common, but very false, narrative out there that somehow children are not susceptible to severe outcomes from COVID-19, which is just not true," Wen said. "Understandably, parents want to protect their children."

Now that health officials in the U.S. have issued emergency use authorization for a vaccine for younger children, the next step in vaccinating children is families finding the nearest dose.

The recommended Tuesday that children ages 5 to 11 get a version of Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine that is about one-third the dose given to kids 12 and older and adults.

Pfizer began packing up pediatric doses to be distributed shortly after, with the company saying 11 million doses are expected to go out in the first 10 days — but some families may not know the best way to get a vaccination for their children.

The first step is to call your pediatrician's office and see when their next appointment is available, Dr. Leana Wen, a CNN medical analyst, said.

If the wait time is just a matter of days, Wen said she would wait and take the appointment. For those who are booked for weeks, it may be best to get on a waitlist with the physician and look for other options.

Chain and local pharmacies can be the next stop, recommended Wen, who is also an emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.

"Make sure to mention your child's exact age, as some places may not give shots to young kids. If they are not sure yet, call back the next day — a lot is changing very quickly," she said.

Walgreens announced its pharmacies will begin administering pediatric COVID-19 vaccines across the nation beginning Saturday. Parents and guardians are able to for the first vaccine dose shipments, and more appointments will become available as more shipments arrive, the company said in a news release.

Local health departments may also be able to provide information on vaccine clinics, Wen added.

More than half of U.S. states do not specify that their vaccinations are for residents only, meaning if you have trouble securing an appointment locally, you may be able to be vaccinated in a nearby state.

Families should get kids vaccinated as soon as possible, experts say

The recommendation of the vaccine to children should be a cause for celebration, but it's understandable if parents still have questions, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on ABC's "Good Morning America" Wednesday.

"We are now beginning to roll out, to distribute the vaccine, to give parents the information that they need," she said. "Go talk to your pediatrician, your trusted health care provider, your pharmacist and get the information that you need as we start scaling up vaccine across this country."

The U.S. has been preparing for children to become eligible for the vaccine, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN Wednesday that officials plan to make doses available quickly.

"That was what the preparedness was about," Fauci said. "It's a good thing. We'll hit the ground running and probably by the beginning of next week, we'll be at full speed."

Children won't have the chance to be fully vaccinated — which is two weeks after their second dose — by Thanksgiving or Hanukkah, but with a first appointment by November 19, they can have full protection for Christmas, Kwanzaa and end-of-year gatherings.

If families and friends are getting together indoors for the holidays, it is crucial that children who can be vaccinated are, Wen said.

"There is a common, but very false, narrative out there that somehow children are not susceptible to severe outcomes from COVID-19, which is just not true," Wen said. "Understandably, parents want to protect their children."

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