Exploring BNT162b2 vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 among pediatric and adolescent population of Qatar NEJM WCMQatar SARSCoV2 COVID19 Vaccine VaccineEffectiveness
By Pooja Toshniwal PahariaNov 4 2022Reviewed by Aimee Molineux In a recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers evaluated Pfizer-BioNTech’s BNT162b2 messenger ribonucleic acid vaccine effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 infections among the pediatric and adolescent population of Qatar.
The team analyzed data obtained from the federated national-level databases for SARS-CoV-2 testing in laboratories, vaccinations, hospitalizations, and deaths, including demographic data and reports of PCR and RAT conducted from 5 January 2022 onwards, without any missing data since COVID-19 onset.
Vaccinees were matched to non-vaccinees based on age, sex, nationality, and coexisting medical conditions. In addition, vaccinated individuals were matched based on the month of D2 administration, and controls were matched based on the month of a negative result. Individuals with prior COVID-19 history were excluded from the analysis.
The adolescent pre-Omicron study comprised 23,317 matched adolescent individuals. 23,317 adolescents, of which 67 vaccinees and 523 controls developed SARS-CoV-2 infections; however, none of them were severe. The cases coincided with Alpha, Beta, and particularly Delta predominance. The cumulative COVID-19 incidence rates after following up for 135 days were 0.8% and four percent for the vaccinees and controls, respectively, with an overall HR for infection of 0.1.
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