Although experts have been telling us for months that COVID vaccines are safe for our children, we now have some more reassurance from a new report.
“VAERS and v-safe data collected during November 3– December 19, 2021 among children aged 5–11 years who received Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine were analyzed and described overall and by sex, age group, and race/ethnicity.”
COVID-19 Vaccine Safety in Children Aged 5–11 Years — United States,
November 3–December 19, 2021
What did they find?
COVID Vaccine Safety in Children
Researchers reviewed VAERS reports after nearly 8.7 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine were given to children aged 5 to 11 years from November 3 to December 19, 2021, which was shortly after the vaccine was authorized for this age group.
How many VAERS reports?
VAERS received 4,249 reports of adverse events after Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination in this age group during this time.
Not surprisingly, 4,149 (97.6%) of those VAERS reports were not serious.
Among the few reports to VAERS (100 our of 4,249) that were considered to be serious included reports of:
- fever
- vomiting
- myocarditis (all verified cases either recovered or recovering)
- seizures (including syncope and febrile seizures and 5 children with new-onset seizures)
And there were two reports of deaths, although it is very important to understand that “none of the data suggested a causal association between death and vaccination.”
Both of the children who died had complicated medical histories before they were vaccinated.
In addition to the VAERS reports (a passive reporting system), researchers also reviewed data from 42,504 children aged 5–11 years who received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and enrolled in v-safe during the same time period.
“Local (57.5%) and systemic (40.9%) reactions after receipt of dose 2 of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination among v-safe registrants aged 5–11 years were less frequently reported than reactions reported among children and adolescents aged 12–15 years (local 62.4%; systemic, 63.4%).”
COVID-19 Vaccine Safety in Children Aged 5–11 Years — United States,
November 3–December 19, 2021
Data that showed fewer side effects for this age group!
“After authorization of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5–11 years during October 2021, and administration of approximately 8 million doses, local and systemic reactions after vaccination were commonly reported to VAERS and v-safe for vaccinated children aged 5–11 years. Serious adverse events were rarely reported.”
COVID-19 Vaccine Safety in Children Aged 5–11 Years — United States,
November 3–December 19, 2021
And that nearly all side effects are mild or moderate, occur on the day after vaccination or by the next day, and rarely involve serious adverse events.
All of which means that we haven’t found any surprises from the initial vaccine clinical trials in kids, which had similar findings – that COVID vaccines are safe for children.
Hopefully, having even more news that COVID vaccines are safe for kids will help get more kids vaccinated and protected, especially as the Omicron variant seems to be getting more kids sick.
More on COVID Vaccine Safety in Children
- Using and Misusing VAERS Reports
- Underreporting of Side Effects to VAERS
- Did 79.4% of the Reported Child Deaths to VAERS Get a Vaccine on the Day They Died?
- Are Kids Dying With COVID-19?
- Adding Dependent Children to Your V-Safe Account
- Pfizer COVID Vaccines for 5-11 Year Olds
- What’s Different About COVID Vaccines for Kids?
- Myocarditis as a Contraindication to Getting a COVID Vaccine
- How Many Kids Have Gotten a COVID Vaccine?
- COVID-19 Vaccination Questions and Answers
- The Truth About COVID-19 Vaccines
- I’m Not Anti-Vaccine, I Just Don’t Believe in the COVID-19 Vaccine
- MMWR – COVID-19 Vaccine Safety in Children Aged 5–11 Years — United States, November 3–December 19, 2021
- CDC – Adverse events among children ages 5–11 years after COVID-19 vaccination: updates from v-safe and the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)
- How Do We Know the COVID-19 Vaccine Is Safe for Kids?
- COVID-19 vaccine for kids: How we know it’s safe
- Doctors Must be Honest with Parents About Known Risks of COVID-19