Nora Gossett, 7, reacts as she receives the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine from Sophia Jan, MD, whereas her father Jeff Gossett, MD, holds her hand at Cohen Kids’s Medical Heart as vaccines have been permitted for kids aged 5-11, amid the coronavirus illness pandemic, in New Hyde Park, New York, November 4, 2021.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters
Pfizer and BioNTech’s two-dose Covid vaccine supplied little or no safety for kids 5- to 11-years-old throughout the wave of omicron an infection in New York, in response to a examine revealed Monday.
The New York State Division of Well being discovered that the effectiveness of Pfizer’s vaccine in opposition to Covid an infection plummeted from 68% to 12% for kids ages 5 to 11 because the omicron variant surged from Dec. 13 by means of Jan 24. Safety in opposition to hospitalization on this age group dropped from 100% to 48% throughout the identical interval.
The study has not yet undergone peer review, the educational gold commonplace. Scientists have been publishing the outcomes of their research earlier than assessment because of the urgency of the pandemic.
The staff of public well being officers who performed the examine mentioned the dramatic drop in vaccine effectiveness amongst youngsters 5 to 11 years previous was possible because of the decrease dosage they obtain. Youngsters on this age group obtain two 10 microgram pictures, whereas youngsters ages 12 to 17 obtain 30 microgram pictures.
The researchers in contrast 11- and 12-year-olds, who obtain completely different dosage ranges however have comparable physiology given that they are almost the identical age. The effectiveness of the vaccine in opposition to an infection for 11-year-olds dropped to 11%, whereas the 2 increased dose pictures gave 12-year-olds 67% safety throughout the week ending Jan. 30.
“Given speedy lack of safety in opposition to infections, these outcomes spotlight the continued significance of layered protections, together with masks carrying, for kids to forestall an infection and transmission,” the general public well being officers wrote within the examine.
For youngsters ages 12- to 17-years-old, vaccine effectiveness in opposition to an infection dropped from 66% to 51% from December by means of the top of January. Safety in opposition to hospitalization dropped from 85% to 73% for youngsters throughout the identical interval.
The information comes as New York Metropolis plans to finish its college masks mandate by March 7, and California is planning to raise its masks mandate for colleges after March 11. State governments are easing mandates and restrictions as Covid infections decline dramatically after omicron swept the nation in December and January
Covid infections are down 91% from a pandemic excessive in January. The U.S. reported a every day common of almost 66,000 new infections on Sunday, in comparison with the greater than 802,000 on Jan. 15, in response to a CNBC evaluation of information from Johns Hopkins College.
The U.S. suffered a spike in hospitalizations of kids with Covid throughout the omicron wave. The Meals and Drug Administration sought to fast-track Pfizer’s vaccine for teenagers aged six months by means of 4-years-old this month in response to the variety of youngsters hospitalized with Covid. Nevertheless, the FDA and Pfizer determined to place these plans on maintain after information on the primary two doses didn’t meet expectations. The FDA is now ready to see medical trial information on a 3rd dose for the youngest children, which is predicted in April.
