Pfizer Vaccine in Children Cuts Omicron Hospitalizations by 68%

In kids aged 5- to 11-year-olds, Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination lowered hospitalizations during the Omicron surge and protected against severe illness, revealed study. The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 was approved in October last year. Many parents have been hesitant to have children vaccinated. As of March 16, only 27% of children aged 5 to 11 had received two vaccine doses, according to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

The study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, also confirms that vaccination reduced Covid hospitalization in adolescents aged 12 to 18 and protected strongly against severe illness.

"The reason for a child to get a Covid-19 vaccine is to prevent severe complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection, including hospitalization," said Adrienne Randolph from Boston Children’s Hospital.

"This evidence shows that vaccination reduces this risk substantially in 5 to 11-year-olds. And while vaccination provided adolescents with lower protection against hospitalization with Omicron versus Delta, it prevented critical illness from both variants," she added.

The study included 1,185 children with Covid at 31 pediatric hospitals across the US: 918 adolescents aged 12 to 18 and 267 children aged 5 to 11. The team also enrolled patients of similar age who were hospitalized for other reasons and served as controls.

Among children 5 to 11 hospitalized with Covid, 92% were unvaccinated, and among 16% who were critically ill, needing life support measures such as intubation, 90% were unvaccinated. On the other hand, two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine prevented hospitalization in 68% during Omicron.

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"We hope our findings will help parents make the decision to vaccinate their children and teenagers against Covid-19," Randolph said. "The benefits clearly outweigh the risks, as severe infections in childhood can have long-term consequences."

Source-IANS