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I am spinning my wheels regarding a booster for my 12 year old son and seeking expert / CDC advice. I have a 12 year old son - fully vaccinated with two 30mcg doses of Pfizer who also had covid. I like to be an informed medical consumer so before he gets the booster - I really would like to understand the risk / benefit data on boosters shots in healthy 12 year old males who are fully vaccinated and have had covid. I would also like to understand - what protection does two doses + booster give a healthy 12 year old, as compared to two doses + documented covid infection?
Currently (4/7/2022), covid transmission has dropped to the lowest levels in many parts of the U.S. If your otherwise healthy 12 year old son has not yet received a booster dose of Pfizer vaccine and you live in a location with very low levels of transmission, then there is not an urgency to administer the booster dose for his personal benefit. However, there are some important caveats that you may want to consider. Does your son have plans to have frequent and prolonged contact with an older person or a person with underlying conditions which are associated with risk of severe disease (such as a grandparent)? Do you plan on international travel in the coming months? If yes, then you may want to proceed with booster dose vaccination to further reduce risk to others or maximize protection of the family unit. Otherwise, you may delay until late summer/early fall or should there be a turn for the worse in local transmission (for example, another variant virus of concern arises and causes a significant increase on local cases, hospitalizations, and deaths).
