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Nearly all teenagers admitted intensive care units due to COVID-19 had not been vaccinated, according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Two doses of the vaccine “were highly efficient against COVID-19-related hospitalizations and ICU admission as well as the provision of life support,” the authors of the study concluded.
According to the study 94 percent of hospitalizations could be prevented by the Pfizer vaccine and 98% of patients in the ICU were protected by the vaccine.
The CDC and 31 pediatric hospitals in 23 states carried out the study, in which researchers looked at data for 1,222 patients 12-18 years old who were hospitalized between June 1 and Oct. 25, 2021. There were 445 teens admitted to hospital for COVID-19, as well as 777 who were admitted for other reasons.
According to the study, 40 percent of patients positive for HIV were admitted to the ICU. All but two of these patients were not vaccine-vaccinated. All but one who required life-sustaining interventions, like a ventilator were unvaccinated.
According to the study, “All seven deaths were caused by patients who were not vaccine-vaccinated.”
The results seem to confirm the effectiveness of the COVID vaccines, Kathryn M. Edwards M.D., director of science of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program, wrote in an accompanying editorial to the study.
“Nearly all hospitalizations and deaths in this population could have been avoided by vaccination,” Edwards wrote.
Edwards said it was “distressing” that only 299 participants in the study had been fully vaccinated. The vaccine has been approved for children aged 12-17 since May.
She wrote that “Vigorous efforts must not be wasted to increase vaccination rates for all children particularly those who are at the highest risk for severe covid-19.”
The vaccination rate among younger teens is not excessive. According to CDC statistics, 36% of U.S. children aged 12-17 have not received a single vaccine dose, as opposed to 25% of the population.
The study revealed that approximately three-quarters of the teens who participated in the study had medical conditions, like obesity and 70% attended in-person school.
Sources
New England Journal of Medicine: “Effectiveness of BNT162b2 Vaccine against Critical COVID Sparing of Severe COVID-19 in Vaccinated Adolescents.” “Sparing of Severe COVID-19 in Vaccinated Adolescents.”
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