Study: COVID-19 mRNA Vaccination Safe for Young Children

A recent evaluation of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines given to the youngest ages found no safety concerns. The study “Safety of COVID-19 mRNA Vaccination among Young Children in the Vaccine Safety Datalink” will be published in the July 2023 issue of Pediatrics (published online June 6). Researchers reviewed more than 245,000 COVID-19 mRNA vaccine doses (135,005 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to children 4 years and younger and 112,006 doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to children 5 years and younger) given over nine months and found no cause for concern during the 21 days after vaccination. Notably, the study did not identify any cases of myocarditis or pericarditis following any dose of vaccine. While one case of hemorrhagic stroke and one case of pulmonary embolism were identified after vaccination, chart review found each outcome was unrelated to vaccination as both children had congenital abnormalities. In descriptive analyses, one case of anaphylaxis was found also to be unrelated to vaccination (due to food allergy). Authors of the study expressed confidence in the findings based on the diverse population surveyed, weekly analyses, and a robust capture of outcome and vaccination data. They say the results should provide reassurance to clinicians, parents, and policymakers.

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The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.