Adults are more likely to have COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and death than children. However, these outcomes still happen among children. Infected children can also spread COVID-19 to adults, like older adults, and we are still learning about the long-term effects of COVID-19 in children. COVID-19 vaccines give children extra protection and prevent them from experiencing severe illness, especially those with underlying health conditions.

Since the pandemic began, at least 13,692,213 cases of COVID-19 have been reported among children, meaning about 1 out of 5 (19%) of the people infected so far are children. There have also been over 1,055 deaths and 14,489 COVID-related hospitalizations among children.

When children are vaccinated, it lowers their possibility of developing severe COVID-19 illness, hospitalization, and death. It also lowers their risk of passing COVID-19 infection to others around them. With the approval of the COVID-19 vaccine for children under 5 years old, the number of kids who can now get vaccinated has increased by 20 million.

The FDA and CDC have determined that the benefit of vaccination outweighs the risk. The vaccine authorization committee paid close attention to ensure it was safe, such as ruling out the risk of myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscles) reported among young males aged 16 to 25.

Initial vaccine test results show that the Pfizer vaccine was 80.3% effective in preventing symptomatic infection among children under 5. The Moderna vaccine was 51% effective in preventing symptomatic infection among children aged 6 months to 2 years and 37% among children 2 to 5 years.

Pediatricians and selected pharmacies offer COVID-19 vaccines for children. Most pharmacy chains only give COVID-19 vaccines to children 3 years and older, while some start at age 5.

Vaccination is still recommended for children previously infected with COVID-19 because natural immunity may not last.

We do not yet know the long-term impact of COVID-19 on children that have been infected.

Immunity developed from a past variant infection may not protect against future variant infections.