Originally published September 21, 2023 9:00 pm PDT
Children up to 4 years old may receive three COVID-19 vaccines.
QUICK FACTS:
- A Pfizer-funded study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that the pharmaceutical company’s COVID-19 vaccine was ineffective for children under 5 years old.
- Children between the ages of 6 months to 4 years were studied between July 23, 2022, through May 19, 2023.
- The study analyzed the number of children who tested positive and negative for COVID-19 while diagnosed with acute respiratory infection (ARI).
- Researchers drew upon data from Kaiser Permanente Southern California’s emergency department (ED), urgent care (UC) visits, and outpatient settings.
- Children were only considered to be vaccinated if they received a second or third COVID-19 vaccine.
- According to the study, the estimated effectiveness of the three-series vaccines was 12%.
- The vaccine was said to be about 44% effective if the children received two doses.
FROM THE STUDY:
- “Receiving at least 2 doses of wild-type BNT162b2 (Pfizer) vaccine was associated with a reduced risk of COVID-19 ED or UC and outpatient visits in children younger than 5 years,” the study reads.
- Researchers theorized that the immunity difference in children receiving two versus three vaccines is due to virus variants that evade the immune system.
- “The risk of SARS-CoV-2 encounters appeared lower for those with 2 vs 3 doses of BNT162b2…which is likely due to more immune-evasive Omicron sublineages (eg, BQ.1- related and XBB-related strains) becoming dominant by the time young children received their third dose,” the study explained.
- Because the study used negative COVID tests as the basis for measuring infection, a reportedly inadequate strategy, the researchers have been criticized.
- According to Dr. Jay Bhattacharya from Stanford University, “The design starts with children who are already seeing a doctor and then makes strong and unsupportable statistical assumptions to derive the probability of seeing a doctor for vaccinated and unvaccinated children.”
BACKGROUND:
- American Faith reported that mRNA components of the COVID-19 vaccine are present in the breast milk of vaccinated mothers.
- The study from Dr. Nazeeh Hanna of the New York University Grossman Long Island School of Medicine raises questions about the spread of mRNA throughout the body and its implications for lactating mothers.
- Because the researchers claim “only trace quantities are present and a clear translational activity is absent,” breastfeeding post-vaccination was nevertheless considered “safe.”
