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NorthBay Health is now providing Moderna COVID vaccines for NorthBay pediatric patients age 6 months through 4 years by appointment only at our primary care locations.

Vaccinations are available only during special clinic hours. They are not provided during regular visits or outside of the dedicated sessions.

Call 646-5500 to schedule a time.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended the COVID-19 vaccine for children in this age group in June.

“While the risks of severe outcomes with COVID in very young children are already quite low, that is small consolation to the parents of those young children who do have severe outcomes,” said NorthBay Health pediatrician Michael Ginsberg, M.D. “Also, there are risks such as multisystem inflammatory disorder in children (MIS-C), which can cause severe and permanent injury to childrens’ hearts, intestines, eyes and blood vessels. In the 5-11 age group, studies showed that vaccination essentially eliminates this risk. For children who have already had COVID before, the vaccine can strengthen and broaden their immune response and is expected to offer some cross-variant protection.”

Most parents are familiar with the minor side effects that vaccines can cause in children. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the same mild side effects seen with routine childhood vaccines have been seen in the studies of the COVID vaccines. They include soreness and redness at the injection site. Some babies and children don't feel well later in the day or two after the shot. A small number of vaccinated children get fever. Very few get high fever that usually lasts only a day or two.

“The Moderna vaccine is very safe and well-tolerated with fever (between 10 percent to 15 percent) and pain at the injection site (about 35 percent to 45 percent) as the two most common side-effects,” confirmed Dr. Ginsberg.

Call (707) 646-5500 to schedule a vaccine appointment.