COVID-19 Vaccination for Children and Youth with Developmental Disabilities Implementation Considerations

As a trusted source of information, you can help protect children with developmental disabilities from COVID-19 by taking every opportunity to recommend the COVID vaccines.

Below are some considerations for vaccinating children with developmental disabilities. Tips for having effective vaccine conversations can be found here.

Considerations for children and teens with developmental disabilities:

Consider the best place for this patient to receive the vaccine. Is it in your office with familiar faces? At their pediatrician’s office? At a drive-through clinic? For some children, getting the vaccine at a drive-through clinic can be a less traumatic process, as it allows them to remain secured in their safety seat and engage with a distraction (i.e., a movie on an iPad).

Prepare the patient and family. Consider a social story or other resources to help patients and families know what they can expect when they come for their appointment.

Have a plan in place for addressing potential side effects-is acetaminophen or ibuprofen appropriate for this patient? Could they receive the vaccine while inpatient for a planned procedure and be monitored for side effects? Are there regular medications that could be adjusted? Be up front with families that side effects from the vaccine, especially fever, can last a couple of days. Sometimes children and youth with development disabilities have a lower threshold to seek care for fever and pain due to their specific conditions.

When children and teens with developmental disabilities are receiving the vaccine in your clinic:

• Include familiar staff, as available.
• Minimize waiting time.
• Consider low stimulation waiting and administration spaces.
• Have distraction or pain management techniques available.
• Encourage patients and family/caregivers to bring comfort items.

Implementation Resources

The AAP has numerous practice implementation resources for COVID-19 Vaccine, which include the following topics:

• Signing up: Listing of State Immunization Programs: Find a listing of state immunization programs where you can sign up to be a COVID-19 vaccine provider.
• Preparing for COVID-19 Vaccine & Training Staff: Prepare your practice and staff for the nuances of implementing COVID-19 vaccine.
• Storage & Expiry of COVID-19 Vaccines: Find specific on how to store COVID-19 vaccines and when they expire.
• COVID-19 Vaccine Implementation Workflow: You will find many considerations for implementing COVID-19 vaccine in pediatric practice on this page including, scheduling patients, obtaining consent, screening for contraindications, scheduling the next dose, and other best practices.
• Administering COVID-19 Vaccine in Practice: Learn more about the specifics of administering COVID-19 vaccine to your patients including supplies, vaccine preparation, documentation and effective conversations.
• Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccine Dosing Quick Reference Guide