In the first 10 days of eligibility, about 15,500 Vermont children ages 5-11 had either been signed up for appointments or received their first dose of the Pfizer Covid vaccine. That's about 35% of the eligible population. But despite the early rush, experts have warned that there may be more hesitancy around this group than other age groups. National survey data has shown that about two-thirds of parents of young children are not planning to sign their kids up right away.

Dr. Judy Orton, a veteran Vermont pediatrician, says it's understandable for parents to have concerns — but that the kids' vaccine is both safe and effective. She responded to a range of reader-submitted questions in a live VTDigger Q&A this week.

“This has probably been the most well studied and most followed-up vaccine in the history of vaccines, and probably the most public too,” Orton said. “So we have a lot of data to go by.”