NEW YORK CITY (dpa-AFX) - A new study has revealed that Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech's Covid vaccine did not offer children between 5 and 11 years any protection during the Omicron wave in New York.
The New York State Department of Health found that the effectiveness of Pfizer's vaccine against Covid infection fell to 12 percent from 68 percent among kids of that age group during the omicron surge from December 13 till Jan 24. The safety net against hospitalization dropped from 100 percent to 48 percent during the period.
The study has not gone through any peer review and due to the public health urgency of the pandemic, scientists have been publishing their study results without any such review.
The public health officials' team, which conducted the study said that the drop in vaccine efficiency can be attributed to the low dosage received by children aged between 5 and 11 years. Kids in this age group are given two 10-microgram shots, while children aged 12 to 17 receive 30-microgram shots.
The researchers also compared 11 and 12-year-olds during the weekend ended January 30. They found the vaccine effectiveness went down to 1% for the low-dosage group but offered 67 percent protection to the group with higher dose.
The study report said, 'Given rapid loss of protection against infections, these results highlight the continued importance of layered protections, including mask wearing, for children to prevent infection and transmission.'
For children between 12 to 17 years old, vaccine effectiveness against infection dropped from 66 percent to 51 percent from December through the end of January. Protection against hospitalization dropped from 85% to 73% for teenagers during the same period.
The data comes as New York plans to end its school mask mandate by March 7, with California doing the same four days later. State governments are lifting mandates and restrictions as Covid infections declined after the Omicron wave in December and January The US saw a spike in hospitalizations of children with Covid during the omicron wave.
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