key: cord-0703085-ba1vz02j
authors: Mattiuzzi, Camilla; Lippi, Giuseppe
title: Real-world effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination among children in Italy
date: 2022-05-20
journal: Int J Infect Dis
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2022.05.045
sha: 26307251c4cffbe8990041430a3862b9bd0b2e3e
doc_id: 703085
cord_uid: ba1vz02j

We analyzed here the clinical efficacy of mRNA-based coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines among Italian children aged 5-11 years using data published by the National Institute of Health. Vaccination status was associated with a reduced risk of COVID-19 related hospitalizations and ICU admissions, which were 41% (odds ratio, 0.59; 95%CI, 0.46-0.77) and 68% (odds ratio, 0.32; 95%CI, 0.04-2.63) lower in children who completed the vaccination cycle <120 days compared to the unvaccinated matched population.

children who completed the vaccination cycle <120 days compared to the unvaccinated matched population.

In a recent study, Husin and colleagues emphasized the considerable efficacy of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mRNA-based BNT162b2 vaccine against the risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in adolescents (Husin et al., 2022) . Since not only limiting the burden of SARS-CoV-2 infection, but also preventing the risk of developing severe complications of COVID-19 is imperative in childhood, the real-world effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination among Italian children was investigated in this study.

The source of our analysis was the official data of the Italian Institute of Health The results of our analysis of COVID-19 vaccine efficacy in Italian children are shown in table 1. Overall, the total number of children aged 5-11 years who were still unvaccinated or who received one of the two mRNA-based vaccines (either BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273, the relative proportions are not specified) at the time of our analysis were 2291598 and 1204468, respectively. We found that vaccination status was associated with a reduced risk of COVID-19 related hospitalizations and ICU admissions, which were found to be 41% and 68% lower in children who completed the vaccination cycle within 120 days compared to the unvaccinated matched population.

In conclusion, the results of our analysis complement those that emerged from the study of Husin and colleagues (Husin et al., 2022) . The data of the ongoing nationwide Italian COVID-19 vaccination campaign reveals that mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines are effective in significantly reducing the risk of COVID-19 related hospitalization among children, also displaying a notable trend toward lowering the likelihood of developing severe or critical disease ultimately necessitating ICU admission.

Study design: GL, CM; Data Collection: GL, CM; Data analysis: GL, CM;

Writing: GL, CM

None.

None.

Unnecessary (usage of freely available information). among adolescents (12 to 17-year-olds) 

Real-world effectiveness of BNT162b2 vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 infection