Review: benefits of vaccinating children against COVID-19 far outweigh the risks

In a detailed review of current international research, experts working with Canada’s COVID-19 Immunity Task Force are assuring guardians and parents that the benefits of vaccinating young children far outweigh the risks.

12月1日在线发布，作者Vaccinating Children against COVID-19: The Benefits Outweigh the Risks请注意，这一点尤其重要，因为Omicron等新变体“继续挑战大流行管理”。

“There are a lot of questions that parents have had around whether they should vaccinate their children against COVID and questions about the safety and the effectiveness of the vaccines,” report co-author Dr. Karina Top said in an interview Monday afternoon.

“因此，我们想确保他们有明确的信息，并真正证明我们作为对Covid-19的小儿疫苗接种的疫苗研究人员的支持。”

来p is a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the IWK Health Centre and an investigator at the Canadian Center for Vaccinology. She said in addition to no clinical trial safety concerns, tens of thousands of children between the ages of five to 11 were vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine in Canada and another five million in the United States with no safety concerns.

“We’re monitoring that very closely, so that should also provide reassurance … Children in school are one of the largest unvaccinated groups still in the population that are contracting COVID,” she said.

“Children can get very seriously ill, and a small number of children can develop a condition called multisystem inflammatory syndrome that can occur a few weeks after their initial COVID infection.”

That syndrome is associated with high fevers that can cause inflammation of the heart and other organs. Top said most children who develop it will be hospitalized.

除了与COVID-19的儿童相关的罕见但严重的风险外，Top表示，他们可以将其传输给脆弱的人以及其他未接种疫苗的人（包括学校同学）。

“We’re heading into the holiday season, and this is the best way for us to protect children and prevent them from spreading it to their grandparents and other vulnerable family members as well so we can enjoy a safer holiday season this year,” she said.

Top表示，还有儿童患兴后综合症的风险，疫苗接种可以预防。

“Long COVID is also a growing concern because we know that some children, even with relatively mild symptoms from their initial COVID infection, can go on to develop persistent symptoms or symptoms of post-COVID syndrome or long COVID,” Top said.

“That’s an area that is emerging and we don’t have a lot of information on it, but vaccination will also prevent that from occurring.”

While much remains unknown about the Omicron variant, Top said what is known is that it has taken off at an exponential rate among unvaccinated people.

她说：“只要孩子们保持未接种，如果及时间到达新斯科舍省，就有可能在他们之间迅速传播，就像达美航空传播一样。”

“我们确实有充分的理由期望我们拥有的疫苗将提供保护，当然可以防止严重疾病。早期的证据表明，完全接种疫苗的人可能会有更多的感染潜力，但是就症状而言，报道的是温和的。”

来p said the expectation is the COVID-19 vaccine would still offer protection against severe disease, which would protect children against outcomes like multisystem inflammatory syndrome.

“It’s very likely that it will at least reduce the chance of spread, even if it doesn’t eliminate it completely,” she said.

“Certainly it’ll be a few months before we would even have a new vaccine targeted against the Omicron variant if that’s something that’s going to be needed. And that’s a few more months where those kids are more vulnerable to COVID from Delta or Omicron or any other variant.”

The COVID-19 Immunity Task Force commentary also notes the vaccines have been well tolerated by children between the ages of five and 11, and the reported adverse events (AEFIs) were consistent with vaccinations for other diseases.

作者写道：“此外，发展系统性AEFI的5-11岁年轻人的百分比低于16-25岁小组报告的百分比。”

研究人员还解决了COVID-19感染与疫苗接种的心肌炎/心包炎的机会增加的问题。根据评论：

在较老的青少年中，心肌炎/心包炎的病例最常出现，在12至15岁年龄段的率较低。因此，对12岁以下儿童的风险可能更低。进一步的证据表明，与由Covid-19引起的心肌炎/心包炎相比，与疫苗诱导的心肌炎/心包炎有关的症状更快地解决了治疗症状。

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