COVID-19 and vaccination for age ≤ 15

parentologist
Fri, 28 May 2021 02:28:14 +0000

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2102051

This study was to determine and compare antibody response to first dose of Pfizer vaccine in healthcare workers who hadn’t already had Covid, vs those who had recovered from real Covid infection. Incidentally, they reported nice antibody response in the Covid-naive workers 3 weeks after that first dose.

Meanwhile, since adolescents have more robust, reactive immune systems than adults, it’s reassuring. One might extrapolate that young teens would be very likely to have an adequate response to just one dose - while the myocarditis was usually seen after the second dose.

However, keep in mind that the decision to go with one dose in Israel for the young teens is being made in a setting where, because of the high number of Israelis 16 and up who are fully immunized, the number of new cases being diagnosed each day is very low - just 25 yesterday in a country of 9.2 million. If you’re living in a state with a high rate of immunization, seems to make sense. But if you’re living in a state with a low rate of immunization, and a high rate of infection currently, might make more sense to get the second dose, too. As you said, the rate of myocarditis in vaccinated teens may be no more than the background rate in the population.