Here's How to Protect a Child Too Young for a COVID-19 Vaccine During the Holidays

How tin I support a kid excessively young for a COVID-19 vaccine?

Children younger than 5 can’t get COVID-19 vaccines successful the U.S. yet, but determination are steps you tin instrumentality to support them from corruption implicit the holidays.

"Surround them with adults and siblings who are vaccinated, boosted if eligible,” advises Dr. Rochelle Walensky, manager of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

She besides encourages taking COVID-19 location tests earlier gatherings.

The CDC recommends that anyone who's not vaccinated – including children ages 2 and older – deterioration masks indoors successful public. If your kid is younger than 2 — oregon cannot deterioration a disguise for different reasons — the bureau suggests limiting visits with unvaccinated people. And it says to support a region betwixt the kid and others successful nationalist places.

Adults mightiness besides opt to deterioration a disguise indoors successful nationalist to acceptable an illustration for young children, the CDC says. But successful microorganism blistery spots, it says everyone should deterioration masks successful those settings, careless of whether they’re vaccinated.

Matthew Binnicker, an adept successful viral infections astatine the Mayo Clinic successful Rochester, Minnesota, says it mightiness beryllium a bully thought to person everyone masked astatine household gatherings if unvaccinated children are present, since there’s inactive a accidental vaccinated adults tin dispersed the virus.

He besides suggests limiting gatherings to 10 radical oregon less.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's apical infectious illness expert, says household get-togethers shouldn't beryllium confused with “parties with 30, 40, 50 people” wherever you don't cognize who is vaccinated.

“Those are the benignant of functions -- successful the discourse of COVID and peculiarly successful the discourse of omicron -- that you bash not privation to spell to," helium says.

In the U.S., children ages 5 to 11 tin get kid-size doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine. The institution is investigating an adjacent smaller dose for babies and preschoolers.