Thousands Of Long Covid Cases In Kids Could Be Averted. Here’s How
Giving children two doses of a coronavirus vaccine could potentially prevent thousands of cases of long Covid, a new study has suggested.
Children as young as 12 in the UK are now eligible for their first shot of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine. However, vaccination experts are yet to advise if and when children should get the full course – or two doses.
The new study saw researchers conduct a risk/benefit analysis of teenagers aged 12 to 17 getting both doses of the vaccine.
Researchers used historic rates of hospital admission, intensive care support and death among children in England who had Covid-19.
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They also examined estimates of long Covid and looked at vaccine efficacy rates and the potential risk of heart inflammation linked to the jab, also known as vaccine-induced myocarditis.
Their study, published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, suggests the benefits of getting a second jab outweigh the risks “unless case rates are sustainably low”.
As of September 15, around 680 out of every 100,000 10 to 19-year-olds were catching Covid-19 every week.
If this soars to 1,000 per week over a 16-week period, then full vaccination of 12- to 17-year-olds will “avert 4,430 hospital admissions and 36 deaths over 16 weeks”, they estimated.
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