Nearly 9 Million Pfizer Shots in Teens, Serious Side Effects Rare

MONDAY, Aug. 2, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. wellness officials person immoderate reassuring quality astir the information of the COVID-19 vaccine successful young people: Among millions of U.S. teens who've received Pfizer's shots, superior broadside effects person been rare.

As of July 16, adjacent to 9 cardinal teens, aged 12 to 17, had received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine — the lone 1 okayed for that property group. Among astir 9,240 reported broadside effects, 91% were minor, specified arsenic soreness adjacent the vaccination site.

But 9% were serious, with 4% processing a bosom occupation known arsenic myocarditis, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday.

"Local and systemic reactions are communal among adolescents pursuing Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, particularly aft the 2nd dose; however, superior adverse events aft COVID-19 vaccination are rare," said the report's pb author, Anne Hause, a CDC epidemiologist.

Myocarditis was among the astir communal terrible adverse events reported, she said. This is an inflammation of the heart musculus that tin impact the heart's electrical system, reducing its pumping quality and causing accelerated oregon abnormal rhythms.

Myocarditis is usually caused by a viral infection, specified arsenic COVID-19, but tin besides beryllium a absorption to a drug. Signs and symptoms see chest pain, fatigue, shortness of enactment and arrhythmias (abnormal bosom rhythm).

While this relation whitethorn dependable alarming, CDC experts proceed to accent the benefits of vaccination for each radical aged 12 and older. The vaccine has not yet been approved for younger kids.

Getting vaccinated is amended than getting COVID-19, Hause said.

"The benefits of vaccination successful preventing COVID-19 and its complications proceed to outweigh the imaginable risks of uncommon adverse events reported aft vaccination," she said.

Last week, a survey published successful the preprint server medRxiv recovered that teens were astatine importantly greater hazard of processing bosom inflammation aft getting COVID-19 itself than from the vaccine. Researchers looked astatine bosom inflammation rates successful astir 14,000 teens diagnosed with COVID-19 and successful a akin fig of vaccinated teens who reported broadside effects. They recovered that the hazard of bosom inflammation was 21 times higher among girls with COVID and astir six times higher among boys with COVID compared with the vaccination group.

"Vaccinating 12- to 17-year-olds remains the safer prime for this property radical and volition trim schoolhouse interruptions and transmission to others," said Mendel Singer, vice seat for acquisition astatine Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine successful Cleveland and co-author of the medRxiv study.

Dr. Paul Offit, manager of the Vaccine Education Center astatine the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, agreed that broadside effects from the vaccine are preferable to the devastating effects of COVID-19.

"You request to enactment it successful perspective. First of all, it appears astir lone 1 successful 20,000 recipients who are successful the highest hazard radical volition make myocarditis aft 2 shots," helium said.

"Myocarditis ne'er sounds good. You tin accidental mild myocarditis each you want, but it's besides going to scare people, due to the fact that the inflammation of the bosom musculus is ever going to beryllium seen arsenic worrisome. But it does look to beryllium self-limiting, short-lived, not fatal and not associated with coronary artery abnormalities," Offit said.

A caller survey among 1,600 assemblage athletes who had COVID-19 recovered that astir 1 successful 43 had myocarditis, helium said. "So you person fundamentally 1 successful 20,000 phenomena astatine its highest for the vaccine and a 1 successful 43 phenomena with the disease."

If symptoms of myocarditis develop, parents should instrumentality their kid to the doctor, and they whitethorn beryllium referred to the infirmary for observation, Offit said.

To parents who are acrophobic astir having their kid vaccinated, Offit said, "Just cognize that the illness is common, that this (Delta) variant particularly is highly contagious."

He added that immoderate judge that implicit the adjacent fewer years, you'll person 2 choices — to beryllium vaccinated oregon to beryllium people infected. "Vaccination is the safer choice, due to the fact that earthy corruption besides causes myocarditis astatine a overmuch higher rate," helium said.

The illness is worse than the vaccine, Offit stressed. "That's ever true," helium said.

The study was published July 30 successful the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

More information

For much connected COVID-19 vaccine broadside effects, caput to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

SOURCES: Anne Hause, PhD, epidemiologist, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Mendel Singer, PhD, vice seat for education, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland; Paul Offit, MD, director, Vaccine Education Center, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, July 30, 2021