COVID-19 vaccines are effective against severe cases in children

COVID-19 vaccines are effective against severe cases of the disease in children and adolescents, according to a review. However, with most children now having caught the SARS-CoV-2 virus and building up a natural immunity, the additional benefit of vaccination in healthy children is minimal. The international literature review, led by Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and published in BMJ Paediatrics Open, explored the challenges and considerations of COVID-19 vaccination, especially in low- and middle-income countries with high levels of community transmission and infection-derived immunity. The review reported any roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines in low- and middle-income countries should also complement routine childhood vaccine programs that have a greater impact on illness and death, including for measles, pneumonia and diarrhoeal disease. Building on recent Murdoch Children’s-led research that found that two-thirds of children with COVID-19 who attended hospital in the first two years of the pandemic did not require medical intervention, this review reported that...