Some countries are now offering COVID vaccines for children as young as six months. nature looks at how effective they are, and why more kids haven’t had them
— from as low as 2% to as high as 66% — owing to differences in study design and how researchers define the condition.
The vaccines seem to work just as well at younger ages, according to preliminary data from trials. In August, Pfizer reported that three doses of its vaccine had an efficacy of 76% in preventing COVID-19 in kids aged 6 months to 2 years and 72% in those aged 2–4 years, at a time when the BA.2 Omicron variant was circulating .
Ximena Aguilera, a public-health researcher at the University of Development in Santiago, attributes Chile’s success to the extensive network of vaccination sites, including mobile clinics at schools and neighbourhoods. Belief in the benefits of vaccination remains stronger than rumours spread by anti-vaccine groups, she adds.Researchers agree that vaccinating children will protect them from severe disease and death.
For many countries, access to vaccines remains a major hurdle, but in those that have approved them for children, the patchwork of regulations reflects a lack of global consensus. Data from Airfinity show that about a dozen countries, including the United States, Canada and Israel, have cleared vaccination for children from their first year of life.
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