Pfizer Covid vaccine was just 12% effective against omicron in kids 5 to 11, study finds

Nora Gossett, 7, reacts as she receives the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine from Sophia Jan, MD, while her father Jeff Gossett, MD, holds her hand at Cohen Children’s Medical Center as vaccines were approved for children aged 5-11, amid the coronavirus disease pandemic, in New Hyde Park, New York, November 4, 2021.

The two-dose Covid vaccine provided very little protection for children aged 5 to 11 during the wave of omicron infections in New York, according to a study published Monday.

The effectiveness of Pfizer's vaccine against Covid was found to be less effective for kids in that age group during the omicron surge. The protection against hospitalization went from 100% to 48%.

Peer review is the academic gold standard. Scientists have been publishing the results of their studies before the review of their studies due to the public health importance of the Pandemic.

The team of public health officials who conducted the study said that the vaccine effectiveness of children 5 to 11 years old was likely due to the lower dosage they received. The kids in this age group are given two 10-microgram shots.

The 11- and 12-year-olds were compared by the researchers. The low-dosage group's vaccine effectiveness fell to 11 percent, but the higher-dosage group was protected from the vaccine at a higher rate.

The public health officials wrote in the study that the results highlight the importance of mask wearing for children to prevent infections.

From December to January, vaccine effectiveness against infections dropped for children aged 12 to 17 years old. The protection against hospitalization went from 85% to 73% for teenagers.

New York City and California will end their school mask mandates within four days of each other. State governments are relaxing mandates and restrictions as Covid infections decline after the omicron variant swept the nation in December and January.

There were a lot of covid infections in January. According to a CNBC analysis, the US reported an average of 66,000 new infections on Sunday, compared to 802,000 on January 15.

During the omicron wave, there was a spike in the hospitalizations of children with Covid. The number of children hospitalized with Covid prompted the Food and Drug Administration to fast track Pfizer's vaccine for kids aged six months through 4 years old.

The FDA and Pfizer decided to put the plans on hold after the data on the first two doses did not meet expectations. The FDA is waiting to see the data from the clinical trial on the third dose for the youngest kids.