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.
According to a study published Monday, Pfizer and BioNTech's two-dose Covid vaccine provided very little protection for children aged 5 to 11 during the wave of omicron infection in New York.
The New York State Department of Health discovered that during the omicron surge from December 13 to January 24, the effectiveness of Pfizer's vaccine against Covid infection dropped from 68 percent to 12 percent for children of that age group. During the same time period, protection against hospitalization fell from 100% to 48%.
The study has not yet been subjected to peer review, which is the academic gold standard. Because of the pandemic's public health importance, scientists have been publishing the results of their studies prior to such review.
The study's team of public health officials concluded that the dramatic drop in vaccine effectiveness among children aged 5 to 11 was most likely due to the lower dosage they received. This age group receives two 10-microgram shots, whereas children aged 12 to 17 receive two 30-microgram shots.
During the weekend ending January 30, the researchers also compared 11 and 12 year olds. They discovered that the vaccine's effectiveness dropped to 11 percent in the low-dose group but increased to 67 percent in the higher-dose group.
"Given the rapid loss of protection against infections, these results highlight the continued importance of layered protections, including mask wearing, for children to prevent infection and transmission," public health officials wrote in the study.
Vaccine effectiveness against infection decreased from 66 percent to 51 percent in children aged 12 to 17 years old from December to the end of January. During the same time period, adolescent hospitalization protection fell from 85 percent to 73 percent.
The data comes as New York City prepares to phase out its school mask requirement by March 7, with California following suit four days later. State governments are relaxing mandates and restrictions as Covid infections have dropped dramatically since the omicron variant swept the country in December and January.
Covid infections have dropped by 91% since a pandemic high in January. According to a CNBC analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University, the United States reported a daily average of nearly 66,000 new infections on Sunday, compared to more than 802,000 on Jan. 15.
During the omicron wave, there was an increase in the number of children hospitalized with Covid in the United States. In response to the number of children hospitalized with Covid, the Food and Drug Administration attempted to expedite Pfizer's vaccine for children aged six months to four years old this month.
However, the FDA and Pfizer decided to halt those plans after data from the first two doses failed to meet expectations. The FDA is now awaiting clinical trial data on a third dose for the youngest children, which is scheduled to be released in April.
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