Clinical Outcomes of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine on Children and Adolescents: Where do we Stand?

Abstract

Background: The BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine is the only vaccine offered to children among all available vaccines. However, limited evidence is available about the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 vaccines, especially among children and adolescents. This review offers a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine’s current information on children and adolescents. Methods: The review was conducted following the PRISMA guidelines; a comprehensive search was performed in PubMed, Scopus, MEDLINE, and EMBASE databases for research publications COVID-19 published between December 2019 and October 2021. All studies reporting on the outcomes of vaccinating children in their respective institutes were included. Results: A total of 78 vaccinated children and adolescents from 6 studies were included. The majority of symptomatic vaccinated pediatrics were males (71%). The mean age was 15.6 years, and the BMI was 24.1. The most common clinical symptoms were found in chest pain (35%), fever (32%), and myalgia (17%). The most common cardiac symptom in the EKG results was ST elevation, and 35% of vaccinated pediatrics had elevated serum troponin. The hospitalization, including ICU admission, was lower than in unvaccinated groups. Statistically significant associations (P = <0.05) were found in two symptoms (fever and headache) between the vaccinated and non-vaccinated pediatric groups. Conclusions: Although we found better outcomes in the vaccinated group versus the non-vaccinated pediatric group, more studies are still crucial to further understand the specific etiology underlying post-vaccination, particularly myocarditis, psychological impact, and other cardiac clinical symptoms in children and adolescents after receiving the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine.