COVID-19 vaccines protect children of all ages

Abstract

As of June 30, 2022, there have been 87,298,343 cases of coronavirus disease 2019 reported in the United States, of which approximately 17.4% occurred in children 0-17 years old (1). So far in 2022, individuals 0-19 years old have accounted for 23.6% of cases, a considerable increase, from 14.4%, throughout 2020 (Figure 1). The increasing case burden in children corresponds with differential vaccine access and uptake compared with adults, of whom the vast majority received an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine ref. 1). The first Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for Pfizer-Bi-oNTech was issued on December 11, 2020, by the FDA, and it was the only available option for individuals 16 years and older (Figure 1 and ref. 2). It was not until May 10, 2021, almost 5 months later, that the FDA expanded the EUA for Pfizer-BioNTech to include adolescents 12-15 years old (Figure 1 and ref. 3). Some 6 months after that, on November 3, 2021, the US FDA amended the EUA to include children 5-11 years old (Figure 1 and refs. 1, 4). More than 1.5 years after the first EUA, on June 17, 2022, the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines were authorized for use in children 6 months and older (Figure 1 and ref. 5). Notably, Moderna had only been authorized for use in adults 18 years and older prior to the most recent EUA amendment (5).Despite the CDC recommendation that everyone 6 months and older get vaccinated against COVID-19, vaccine uptake has been suboptimal in children compared with adults; 63.4% of children 5-11 years old were unvaccinated as of June 30, 2022, as opposed to 30.0% of adolescents 12-17 years old and 10.1% of adults at aged 18 years and older (1). According to a systematic

A Live Attenuated COVID-19 Candidate Vaccine for Children: Protection against SARS-CoV-2 Challenge in Hamsters

“…COVID-19 incidences were reported in children following relaxation in social and public health measures and emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Of utmost concern is children having COVID-19 associated complications such as neurological complications, multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and long COVID and requiring intensive care [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]. However, few vaccines are available to protect children, especially in the age group of 6 months to 2 years in selected regions, leaving unimmunized children vulnerable to COVID-19, along with a risk of further transmission to others.…”