Covid
Study: Pfizer vaccine less effective against Covid-19 in children aged 5-11
According to a study, the Pfizer vaccine is less effective in kids aged between 5 to 11 years. Its effect waned very quickly during the Omicron surge in the United States but the preventive was still protective against the disease.
Researchers from the New York State Department of Health and the University at Albany School of Public Health, US, estimated the effectiveness of Pfizer vaccine against COVID cases and hospitalisations.
The researchers used data from 852,384 fully-vaccinated children of 12-17 years of age and 365,502 children aged 5-11 years during December, 2021 and January, 2022.
The researchers said that the vaccine effectiveness waned from 66 per cent in early December to 51 per cent by the end of January for children in the age group of 12 to 17 and added that for hospitalisations, vaccine effectiveness fell from 85 per cent to 73 per cent over the same time frame.
The authors stated, “In the Omicron era, the effectiveness against cases of BNT162b2 (Pfizer) declined rapidly for kids, particularly those 5-11 years.”