LET'S TALK – Q&A COVID-19 VACCINES & CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

BY RACHEL PASSMORE, MPH, ANDREA DEISHER, RN, BSN, MPH AND LISA H. SHULMAN, MD

On December 11, 2020, the Food and Drug Administration approved the emergency use of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 in individuals 16 years and older. On May 10th, 2021, eligibility was expanded to 12- to 15-yearolds. On October 29th, 2021, eligibility was expanded again, this time to include 5- to 11-year-olds.

Individuals with autism and developmental disabilities (DD) are at a higher risk for severe illness and hospitalization from COVID-19 infection than children without DD (Tinker et al. 2021, Karpur et al. 2021). A nationwide survey found that less than one-half of US parents are likely to have their child receive

the COVID-19 vaccine, mainly due to concerns about vaccine safety and side effects (Szilagyi et al. 2021). Additionally, parents of children with autism and other developmental disabilities are generally vaccine hesitant due to a history of misinformation and a disproven and retracted claim that there was a connection between vaccination and autism (Bonsu et al. 2021).

Dr. Lisa H. Shulman is the Interim Director of the Rose F. Kennedy Children’s Evaluation & Rehabilitation Center at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore and is a developmental pediatrician who specializes in the care of children with autism. On November 17th, 2021, Dr. Shulman gave a virtual talk to address parent concerns about vaccinating their children with autism and DD. Below is the transcript from the questionand-answer portion of the talk. (The transcript has been edited for clarity and length. Statistics and information included in the transcript are accurate as of November 17th, 2021, at 7:00 pm EST.)