According to a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 years old reduced Omicron hospitalizations and protected them against severe illness.

1,185 children with 918 adolescents aged 12 to 18 and 267 children aged 5 to 11 were included in the study. Children of the same age group who were hospitalized for other reasons served as control. 92% of children aged 5 to 11 who were hospitalized with Covid were unvaccinated, and among 16% severely ill patients, 90% were unvaccinated. It was observed that children who received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine during Omicron wave had a 68% lower hospitalization rate compared to those unvaccinated.

Among adolescents aged 12 to 18 who were hospitalized with Covid-19, 87% were unvaccinated, and 27% had a serious disease. Among the seriously ill 93% were unvaccinated. Vaccination prevented critical illness during the Delta infection by 96% and by 79% during the Omicron wave. (ET Healthworld, April 01, 2022)