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Covid Vaccines for Kids under 5


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I am leaving out of Texas on Liberty in just under 3 months and our local area approved covid vaccines for kids under 5. My youngest will is under 5 (turns 5 on the cruise) but don't see any material for this age group and vaccines. The doctor said he needs 3 shots and his 3rd shot is 7 days before boarding but everything I've read says vaccinated passengers will need 2 shots 14 days before (he will have his 2 by then for sure) I'm wondering if anyone has heard anything because I don't want to show up the day of thinking he is good and not having a PCR test like we have needed in the past for him because those are a pain to find these days and would rather do the home test but don't want to be surprised. Let me know if you have heard anything. Many thanks in advance!

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13 hours ago, Kamachaos said:

The doctor said he needs 3 shots and his 3rd shot is 7 days before boarding but everything I've read says vaccinated passengers will need 2 shots 14 days before (he will have his 2 by then for sure)

 

20 minutes ago, Moby Dick said:

But, isn't only the original 2 shots required?  I'm seriously asking, not an agenda question.  

@Moby Dick is correct, for RCI's standards (at least as of now), you only need the two original shots in the series to be considered "fully vaccinated."  Boosters are not required.

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I would think he will need all 3 shots before 14 days out to be considered fully vaccinated. Whether he needs 1 shot or 100 the final dose would need to be given at least 14 days before boarding.

Per Royal's FAQ - All Royal Caribbean guests age 12 and older must present proof of full COVID-19 vaccination with the final dose of their vaccine administered at least 14 days before sailing. 

I would get him a PCR test. You don't want to risk the whole cruise over it.

 

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27 minutes ago, RogerC1 said:

I would think he will need all 3 shots before 14 days out to be considered fully vaccinated. Whether he needs 1 shot or 100 the final dose would need to be given at least 14 days before boarding.

Per Royal's FAQ - All Royal Caribbean guests age 12 and older must present proof of full COVID-19 vaccination with the final dose of their vaccine administered at least 14 days before sailing. 

I would get him a PCR test. You don't want to risk the whole cruise over it.

 

Yes, that is true.  But, they said, "The doctor said he needs 3 shots".  Which I don't think is true.  So, it is possible for them to get the two jabs, that are required presently, well outside of the 14 day requirement.  Hence, their kids under 5 can be fully jabbed and still cruise, again at today's requirements.  

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Directly from the CDC website -- keep in mind, children < 12 have been allowed to get vaccines for several months now, so boosters are now "available" for this age group-- 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/booster-shot.html#when-you-can-get-booster

5–11 YEARS

1st Booster:
CDC recommends a booster of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for:

  • Most children, at least 5 months after the final dose in the primary series
  • Children who are moderately or severely immunocompromised, at least 3 months after the final dose in the primary series

 

If your child is just being vaccinated now, then they are NOT ELIGIBLE for a booster, and Royal is not requiring them of any age group

 

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38 minutes ago, Moby Dick said:

Yes, that is true.  But, they said, "The doctor said he needs 3 shots".  Which I don't think is true.  So, it is possible for them to get the two jabs, that are required presently, well outside of the 14 day requirement.  Hence, their kids under 5 can be fully jabbed and still cruise, again at today's requirements.  

For the under 5 age group, Moderna's vaccine is a 2 shot series using 25% of their adult dosage.  However, Pfizer's vaccine is a 3-shot series using 10% of their adult dosage.  This is for the primary series, not including boosters.  In this case, I think the original poster's doctor has recommended or already starting giving the Pfizer vaccine to their youngest.  I believe that means they need to finish all 3 shots to be considered fully vaccinated.

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My original response is actually in reference to Royal's jab requirements.  Royal doesn't require any jabs for those 11 and under.  The doctor may be right as far as meeting the definition of "Fully Vaccinated" for kids, but that has nothing to do with Royal's requirements for children 11 and under.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/do-i-need-a-covid-vaccine-to-cruise-what-counts-as-proof

FOR CRUISES DEPARTING FROM NORTH AMERICA (U.S., PUERTO RICO, CANADA)

All Royal Caribbean guests age 12 and older must present proof of full COVID-19 vaccination with the final dose of their vaccine administered at least 14 days before sailing. Kids age 11 or younger who have been vaccinated may present proof of full vaccination and follow the protocols for vaccinated guests. While we do not require kids 11 or younger than to be vaccinated, many are and it is highly likely destinations will begin to require guests age 5 and older to be vaccinated. We will notify booked guests as this guidance evolves.

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4 hours ago, Moby Dick said:

"The doctor said he needs 3 shots".  Which I don't think is true.

Your doctor is right.  To be fully categorized as fully vaccinated for both the CDC and Royal, he needs to have all 3 shots.

39 minutes ago, Moby Dick said:

The doctor may be right as far as meeting the definition of "Fully Vaccinated" for kids, but that has nothing to do with Royal's requirements for children 11 and under.

Like @Matt said, he needs to have gotten his last covid vaccine regiment (in his case, 3rd shot) at least 14 days before the cruise.  The Pfizer vaccine for under 5 is a 3 dose regiment.

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9 minutes ago, AspiringCruisePlanner said:

Your doctor is right.  To be fully categorized as fully vaccinated for both the CDC and Royal, he needs to have all 3 shots.

Like @Matt said, he needs to have gotten his last covid vaccine regiment (in his case, 3rd shot) at least 14 days before the cruise.  The Pfizer vaccine for under 5 is a 3 dose regiment.

But, Royal doesn't require any jabs for those under 12.  See my link above.  

"While we do not require kids 11 or younger than to be vaccinated........."

Look, I'm just going by the current information that is given in Royal's own site.  My original question was an honest question.  I saw a couple of different "opinions" so I went and looked it up (I should have done that to begin with, I guess) and the link is what I found.  If that information is incorrect or outdated, take it up with Royal.  But, if Royal says that they don't require kids 11 and younger to be vaccinated to embark on their ships, what are we to believe?  I usually go with the official written word.  

BTW, it also says they don't require kids 11 and younger to show proof of Vaccination.  That tells me that if you only have 1 or 2 of the three shots, you don't even have to show that.  They won't know if the kid had one, two, or three OR any.  It doesn't matter.  It does say that kids 11 and younger MAY  show proof of vaccination and can follow the protocols of vaccinated guests.  May doesn't mean shall, will, has to, is required...................

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I think this maybe what you are looking for.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/will-i-have-to-take-a-test-before-i-cruise
"Vaccinated guests must show a negative COVID-19 test result for a PCR or antigen test taken no more than 2 days before boarding day. NOTE: Kids age 11 or younger who have been vaccinated may present proof of full vaccination and follow the testing protocols for vaccinated guests."

I am sort of the same boat as you. I made sure to get the Moderna for my daughter as it is 1 shot + 4 weeks for second shot + 2 weeks to be fully vaccinated.

Moby Dick is right that you don't have to be fully vaccinated to cruise but you have to a non-rapid test 3 days before and a second test the day of at the port. I did that for our last cruise and we had to fly to the port without having the negative result hoping they would send it in time. 30 mins before they closed boarding we got the negative result from the 3 day old test. I can tell you it was a lot of work keeping everyone in good spirits until that result came in and I do not wish that experience on anyone.

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5 hours ago, Atlantix2000 said:

For the under 5 age group, Moderna's vaccine is a 2 shot series using 25% of their adult dosage.  However, Pfizer's vaccine is a 3-shot series using 10% of their adult dosage.  This is for the primary series, not including boosters. 

I did not realize Pfizer's under 5 series ran 3 shots for the primary series!  If that's the case, then @Atlantix2000 & @AspiringCruisePlanner would be absolutely correct.  My apologies, I didn't realize under 5 had a different series with Pfizer than the 5-11 year olds.

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2 hours ago, Moby Dick said:

But, Royal doesn't require any jabs for those under 12.  See my link above.  

"While we do not require kids 11 or younger than to be vaccinated........."

Look, I'm just going by the current information that is given in Royal's own site.  My original question was an honest question.  I saw a couple of different "opinions" so I went and looked it up (I should have done that to begin with, I guess) and the link is what I found.  If that information is incorrect or outdated, take it up with Royal.  But, if Royal says that they don't require kids 11 and younger to be vaccinated to embark on their ships, what are we to believe?  I usually go with the official written word.  

BTW, it also says they don't require kids 11 and younger to show proof of Vaccination.  That tells me that if you only have 1 or 2 of the three shots, you don't even have to show that.  They won't know if the kid had one, two, or three OR any.  It doesn't matter.  It does say that kids 11 and younger MAY  show proof of vaccination and can follow the protocols of vaccinated guests.  May doesn't mean shall, will, has to, is required...................

Right, I think we all agree Royal doesn't require vaccination for kids.  But based on the original post, it looks like the poster wants to know if they can trigger the "may show proof" clause to avoid the pre-cruise test for her youngest.  And for that, I would say it's not clear.  Her youngest will have a vaccination card that shows 2 shots older than 14 days plus a 3rd shot only 7 days old.  So they might accept this as proof, skip the pre-cruise PCR test, and treat the child as fully vaccinated for the cruise.  However, they could also realize that the shots are Pfizer and that they should need 3 shots older than 14 days, therefore require the PCR test, and treat the child as unvaccinated for the cruise.  It would come down to how well trained the staff are regarding the differences between the shots.  At this point, neither under 5 vaccine has been available long enough for any of these kids to be considered fully vaccinated so we don't have any way of knowing what will happen.  Hopefully, Royal will recognize that this issue should be clarified before it actually effects anyone's cruises.

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12 minutes ago, Atlantix2000 said:

Right, I think we all agree Royal doesn't require vaccination for kids.  But based on the original post, it looks like the poster wants to know if they can trigger the "may show proof" clause to avoid the pre-cruise test for her youngest.  And for that, I would say it's not clear.  Her youngest will have a vaccination card that shows 2 shots older than 14 days plus a 3rd shot only 7 days old.  So they might accept this as proof, skip the pre-cruise PCR test, and treat the child as fully vaccinated for the cruise.  However, they could also realize that the shots are Pfizer and that they should need 3 shots older than 14 days, therefore require the PCR test, and treat the child as unvaccinated for the cruise.  It would come down to how well trained the staff are regarding the differences between the shots.  At this point, neither under 5 vaccine has been available long enough for any of these kids to be considered fully vaccinated so we don't have any way of knowing what will happen.  Hopefully, Royal will recognize that this issue should be clarified before it actually effects anyone's cruises.

Actually, I don't get that at all.  I think the OP just doesn't want to do one thing and find out at the port that something else should have been done.  

To be honest, my only point about this, after the dust started to fly, is to have people JUST FOLLOW the written word from the official source.  Like I said, I should have just went to Royal's site to begin with and posted it rather than posting the original question, I posted.  

Bottom line, regardless of original intent, kids under 12 do not have to show proof of any vaccination.  <Disclaimer:  As of today!  And, I don't think that policy has changed in a long time.

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51 minutes ago, Atlantix2000 said:

Her youngest will have a vaccination card that shows 2 shots older than 14 days plus a 3rd shot only 7 days old.  So they might accept this as proof, skip the pre-cruise PCR test, and treat the child as fully vaccinated for the cruise.  However, they could also realize that the shots are Pfizer and that they should need 3 shots older than 14 days, therefore require the PCR test, and treat the child as unvaccinated for the cruise.  It would come down to how well trained the staff are regarding the differences between the shots.

This right here is the big bet.  The port workers may not be trained to recognize that a vaccinated kid under the age of 5 needs to have 3 shots of Pfizer to technically be fully vaxxed.  It's still really new.  If I was in the scenario where my kid couldn't get the 2-shot Moderna and wouldn't have the full 3 shot Pfizer kiddo series, I would err on the conservative side and consider the kid unvaccinated and do the PCR pre-cruise testing and expect to be tested at boarding time.  

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