Only 51% Percentage: Reduced efficacy in children's vaccines aged 11-5 | Israel today

A study by the Clalit Research Institute published tonight (Thursday) in the scientific journal The New England Journal of Medicine on the effectiveness of vaccines for children aged 5 to 11, found that the vaccine was 51% effective in reducing morbidity and 48% in reducing symptomatic infection.

This is less protection compared to the adult vaccine and the study authors speculate that the results may be related to the lower dose of the vaccine in children or to the reduced effectiveness of the vaccine against the omicron strain.

This is a national study that provides preliminary data on the effectiveness of the corona vaccine.

The study addresses efficacy against the omicron strain and was conducted in Bio-November 2021 to January 2022. This is one of the first and large-scale studies to evaluate the effectiveness of a reduced-dose Pfizer vaccine adapted for children aged 11-5.

The observational study compared the data of 94,728 vaccinated children versus 94,728 children of the same age who had not been vaccinated with any vaccine against Corona.

However, the protection provided by the vaccine was not uniform in all age groups in the study.

The data show that better protection was recorded in the younger age group (ages 5 to 6) compared to the older age group (ages 10 to 11). 

48 percent effective against infection, Photo: Reuters

Prof. Ran Blitzer, head of Clalit's Innovation Division and director of the research institute, said: "Previous studies we conducted at Clalit have shown high efficacy of the first doses of the vaccine in protecting against Delta strain symptoms in adolescents, several weeks after the second vaccine. Aged 11-5, in a vaccine whose dose was reduced and adjusted for this age group, provided less protection against omicron infection. The differences in the effectiveness of the vaccine against the Omicron strain compared to Delta can be attributed. "

Dr. Doron Netzer, head of Clalit's community medicine department, added: "The study sheds light on the effectiveness of the vaccine among children aged 11-5.

The results reliably reflect the effectiveness of the vaccine against morbidity and symptomatic infection during the omicron wave, which is possible thanks to the meticulous research method that standardized various variables. "

Prof. Ben Rice, head of a predictive medicine group at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, said: "Currently, one of the main reasons for hesitation about children's vaccine is a lack of information about its effectiveness. The meticulous epidemiological research presented here provides reliable We hope it will help us make an informed decision about getting vaccinated. "

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