Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine found 90.7% effective in AAP study for 5 to 11 age bracket

By

Ethan Kispert

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Recent Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) data shows children at or under the age of 10 make up the fourth lowest age bracket by total COVID cases in the state, as of Nov. 5. Despite this ranking, the 10 and under age bracket has 15,050 total cases accumulatively. 

 

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However, clinical trials on the newly-approved vaccine’s effectiveness for kids in the 5 to 11 year old age bracket yielded promising results. According to a Nov. 2 report by AAP News, the trials found the doses to be 90.7% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 cases. 

According to the publication, safety data from the trials, which consisted of more than 3,000 children who received the vaccine, revealed many common symptoms such as pain at the injection site, fatigue, and headache. 

Throughout the trials, symptoms were mild and severe reactions were rare. 

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention noted that baseline COVID rates unrelated to vaccination status seemed to be lower in kids within the 5 to 11 year-old age bracket, according to the AAP report. The risk of developing myocarditis, a condition that causes inflammation of the heart muscle, was found to be greater from the COVID-19 infection itself rather than the vaccine. 

The latest DHSS data shows a consistent drop in cases since mid-October, though DHSS’s  COVID dashboard shows the state as being in the “high” alert level for the virus, which is given when case rates are higher than 100 per 100,000 people. This matches the status of many states across the U.S. with the exception of some southeastern states and the territory of Puerto Rico. 

Data from the department on cumulative COVID cases shows the 10 and under age bracket accounting for 11% of all cases. Data from the same page also shows populations under the age of 20 with the second highest 7-day case rate at 674.1 per 100,000, just behind the 20 to 39 age bracket at 686.7. 

There is hope, however, in the vaccine’s potential. 

Dr. Sarah S. Long, a professor of practice at Drexel University’s College of Medicine and a member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, has confidence in the vaccine’s ability to save lives. 

Long said in the report:

“I think the data supports that we have one more vaccine that saves the lives of children and that we should be very confident to employ it to the maximum to do what it is meant to do without significant concerns of serious adverse events.”