Limited Study Finds Comirnaty Vaccine Very Effective with Adolescents

The U.S. CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published on October 19, 2021, found among (179) hospitalized patients aged 12–18 years, the two-doses of Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 hospitalization during June–September 2021 was 93%.

Among the 179 COVID-19 case patients, six (3%) were vaccinated, and 173 (97%) were unvaccinated.

And, among 169 case patients with available hospital discharge data, the median length of hospital stay was five days for unvaccinated patients and three days for vaccinated patients.

Furthermore, 72% of these adolescents had at least one underlying condition, including obesity.

The findings in this report are subject to at least six limitations, including, but not limited to, the sample was too small to assess Comirnaty's vaccine effectiveness by underlying conditions or by other subgroups of interest, including against critical illness.

These findings of this limited study reinforce the importance of vaccination to protect U.S. youths against severe COVID-19, says the CDC.

As of October 18, 2021, 46% of U.S. children and adolescents aged 12–15 years and 54% of 16–17 years were fully vaccinated against COVID-19. This data compares with all authorized persons being 57% being fully vaccinated.