Risk of COVID-19 in Children throughout the Pandemic and the Role of Vaccination: A Narrative Review

David J Weber; Kanecia O Zimmerman; Sara Y Tartof; John M McLaughlin; Shanti Pather

doi:10.3390/vaccines12090989

Risk of COVID-19 in Children throughout the Pandemic and the Role of Vaccination: A Narrative Review

Vaccines (Basel). 2024 Aug 29;12(9):989. doi: 10.3390/vaccines12090989.

Authors

David J Weber¹, Kanecia O Zimmerman², Sara Y Tartof³, John M McLaughlin⁴, Shanti Pather⁵

Affiliations

¹ Division of Infectious Diseases, UNC School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
² Duke Department of Pediatrics, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
³ Department of Research & Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Pasadena, CA 91107, USA.
⁴ Pfizer Vaccines, 500 Arcola Rd, Collegeville, PA 19426, USA.
⁵ BioNTech SE, An der Goldgrube 12, 55131 Mainz, Germany.

Abstract

At the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, persons ≥65 years of age and healthcare personnel represented the most vulnerable groups with respect to risk of infection, severe illness, and death. However, as the pandemic progressed, there was an increasingly detrimental effect on young children and adolescents. Severe disease and hospitalization increased over time in pediatric populations, and containment measures created substantial psychosocial, educational, and economic challenges for young people. Vaccination of children against COVID-19 has been shown to reduce severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections and severe outcomes in pediatric populations and may also help to prevent the spread of variants of concern and improve community immunity. This review discusses the burden of COVID-19 on children throughout the pandemic, the role of children in disease transmission, and the impact of COVID-19 vaccination.

Keywords: COVID-19 vaccines; SARS-CoV-2; children; epidemiology; pediatric.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

BioNTech SE provided funding to the Medical Communications agency, Prime, for the development of the initial outline, literature search, and writing support.