A new study has shown that the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccine significantly reduces the proportion of sever COVID-19 infections, reducing the risk of hospitalisation in 5–11-year-olds by two-thirds. Although it was lower for the Omicron variant than for Delta, protection against hospitalisation remained high for 12–18-year-olds. It also gave high protection against critical COVID-19 requiring life-supporting interventions for adults during both Delta and Omicron waves.
The study was carried out by researchers at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, Chicago, IL, USA and is published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
As explained in the news release from the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital:
Although the paper in the New England Journal of Medicine is behind a paywall and permission to quote the abstract could not be obtained, it can be read freely here. In it, the authors conclude:During the Omicron period (December 19, 2021–February 17, 2022), vaccination reduced the risk of COVID-19-associated hospitalization by 68 percent in children ages 5–11 years. Vaccine effectiveness against any type of COVID-19-associated hospitalization in adolescents ages 12–18 years who received a primary series declined from 92 percent during the Delta (July 1, 2021–December 18, 2021) period to 40 percent during the Omicron period. Protection against COVID-19 requiring life-supporting interventions remained high for adolescents during Delta (96 percent) and Omicron (79 percent). Due to the low numbers of hospitalized children ages 5–11 years in the study, researchers could not analyze vaccine effectiveness by disease severity for this age group but will continue to monitor as these data are collected. Data in this age group was not available for the Delta period, since younger children were not eligible for the vaccine at that time.Our study results are reassuring that COVID-19 vaccination in eligible children and adolescents continues to protect against the most severe outcomes associated with COVID-19, regardless of variant type. It is difficult to predict whether the vaccine will be as effective against the current subvariant of Omicron, but most likely the level of protection would be similar. Our results reinforce the importance of COVID-19 vaccination, including receiving a booster dose for those ages 12 years and older, to protect against critical illness.
This consistency in vaccine effectiveness during each variant suggests that the decline in protection among adolescents between the Delta and Omicron periods might be because the Omicron variant is more likely to escape control by the immune system, rather than waning immunity since vaccination. However, more data are needed to answer this question.
Bria Coates, MD, Co-author
Critical care physician
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, Chicago, IL
And Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL
Protection against hospitalization in adolescents during the Delta period remained consistent for more than 6 months after receipt of a primary series. Levels of protection during Omicron, although lower, also stayed consistent over time after completing the primary series.
The fact that the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccine gave a lower level of protection against Omicron, albeit still a very significant protection compared to the unvaccinated victims, that it did against the earlier Delta variant suggests that the virus has evolved some ability to evade the antibodies produced by the vaccine, but the evidence of this study is that the vaccines were still very effective against hospitalisations and a life-threatening severity in particular. So, the benefits of vaccination are not just in the protection it gives to individuals, but also the reduced demand the pandemic is placing on the medical services. It's worth repeating the words of Assistant Professor, Bria Cotes, MD quoted above:BNT162b2 vaccination reduced the risk of omicron-associated hospitalization by two thirds among children 5 to 11 years of age. Although two doses provided lower protection against omicron-associated hospitalization than against delta-associated hospitalization among adolescents 12 to 18 years of age, vaccination prevented critical illness caused by either variant.
So, once again:Our results reinforce the importance of COVID-19 vaccination, including receiving a booster dose for those ages 12 years and older, to protect against critical illness.
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