Covid-19 Vaccination

Tanque Verde Pediatrics will be offering the 2025-26 Moderna Covid-19 vaccine to patients according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Guidelines:

• All children ages 6-23 months, unless they have a known allergy to the vaccine
• All children ages 2-18 years who:
  • are at high risk of severe COVID-19
  • are residents of long-term care facilities or other congregate settings
  • have never been vaccinated
  • have household contacts at high risk for severe COVID-19
• All children who are not in high-risk groups but whose guardians wish to have them vaccinated

Though the FDA is no longer recommending Covid vaccines for healthy people under the age of 65, their announcement on August 27th, 2025 states that this decision was based on the assumption that “widespread natural and vaccine-acquired immunity has reduced severe outcomes, hospitalizations, and deaths from COVID-19” and that “safety concerns [were] not the basis for [their] decision”.

Additionally, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) still recommends the COVID-19 vaccine for children over the ages of 6 months, with shared decision making with their healthcare provider.

Covid vaccines have proven to be safe and effective at preventing severe illness and hospitalization in children. Though Covid-19 is typically a mild illness in kids, a review of Covid-19 hospitalizations from 2022-2024 showed that over 40% of children hospitalized had no underlying medical issues and almost 95% weren’t up to date on Covid-19 vaccination.

As the vaccine will be given off-label, parents/guardians will need to sign a consent form and leave a credit card on file (should insurance choose to not cover the vaccine, the cost will be left to patient responsibility).

We understand that vaccinating against Covid-19 is a personal decision, one that can have a significant impact on a family’s life. We are happy to discuss the risks and benefits of vaccination in each individual circumstance, and will support any family’s decision regarding Covid-19 vaccination.