Osong Public Health and Research Perspectives

Brief Reports

Adverse events of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in Korean children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 years: Seontae Kim, Yeseul Heo, Soon-Young Seo, Do Sang Lim, Enhi Cho, Yeon-Kyeng Lee; Osong Public Health Res Perspect. 2022;13(5):382-390. Published online October 14, 2022; DOI: https://doi.org/10.24171/j.phrp.2022.0233

1,837 View
108 Download
2 Citations

Objectives
This study aimed to identify potential safety signals and adverse events following the primary Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination series among children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 years in the Republic of Korea. Methods: Adverse events reported through the COVID-19 vaccination management system (CVMS, a web-based passive vaccine safety surveillance system) and adverse events and health conditions collected from a text message-based survey were analyzed. Results: A total of 14,786 adverse events among 5 to 17-year-old children and adolescents were reported in the CVMS; 14,334 (96.9%) were non-serious and 452 (3.1%) were serious, including 125 suspected cases of acute cardiovascular injury and 101 suspected cases of anaphylaxis. The overall reporting rate was lower in 5 to 11-year-old children (64.5 per 100,000 doses) than in 12 to 17-year-old adolescents (300.5 per 100,000 doses). The text message survey identified that local and systemic adverse events after either dose were reported less frequently in 5 to 11-year-old children than in 12 to 17-year-old adolescents (p<0.001). The most commonly reported adverse events were pain at the injection site, myalgia, headache, and fatigue/tiredness. Conclusion: The overall results are consistent with the results of controlled trials; serious adverse events were extremely rare among 5 to 17-year-old children and adolescents following Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination. Adverse events were less frequent in children aged 5 to 11 years than in adolescents aged 12 to 17 years.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

Safety monitoring of COVID-19 vaccines: February 26, 2021, To June 4, 2022, Republic of Korea
Yeon-Kyeng Lee, Yunhyung Kwon, Yesul Heo, Eun Kyoung Kim, Seung Yun Kim, Hoon Cho, Seontae Kim, Mijeong Ko, Dosang Lim, Soon-Young Seo, Enhi Cho
Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics.2023; 66(10): 415. CrossRef
Effectiveness of the BNT162b2 vaccine in preventing morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19 in children aged 5 to 11 years: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Sumayyah Ebrahim, Ntombifuthi Blose, Natasha Gloeck, Ameer Hohlfeld, Yusentha Balakrishna, Rudzani Muloiwa, Andy Gray, Andy Parrish, Karen Cohen, Ruth Lancaster, Tamara Kredo, Julia Robinson
PLOS Global Public Health.2023; 3(12): e0002676. CrossRef

Presumed population immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in South Korea, April 2022: Eun Jung Jang, Young June Choe, Seung Ah Choe, Yoo-Yeon Kim, Ryu Kyung Kim, Jia Kim, Do Sang Lim, Ju Hee Lee, Seonju Yi, Sangwon Lee, Young-Joon Park; Osong Public Health Res Perspect. 2022;13(5):377-381. Published online October 14, 2022; DOI: https://doi.org/10.24171/j.phrp.2022.0209

2,047 View
66 Download
2 Citations

Graphical Abstract Abstract PDF

Objectives
We estimated the overall and age-specific percentages of the Korean population with presumed immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2) as of April 2022 using the national registry.
Methods
We used the national coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection and vaccination registry from South Korea, as described to define individuals with a previous history of COVID-19 infection, vaccination, or both, as persons with presumed immunity.
Results
Of a total of 53,304,627 observed persons, 24.4% had vaccination and infection, 58.1% had vaccination and no infection, 7.6% had infection and no vaccination, and 9.9% had no immunity. The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant emerged at a time when the presumed population immunity ranged from 80% to 85%; however, nearly half of the children were presumed to have no immunity.
Conclusion
We report a gap in population immunity, with lower presumed protection in children than in adults. The approach presented in this work can provide valuable informed tools to assist vaccine policy-making at a national level.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

Predicting adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures among South Korean adults aged 40 to 69 Years using the expanded health empowerment model
Su-Jung Nam, Tae-Young Pak
SSM - Population Health.2023; 22: 101411. CrossRef
Acute COVID-19 in unvaccinated children without a history of previous infection during the delta and omicron periods
Jee Min Kim, Ji Yoon Han, Seung Beom Han
Postgraduate Medicine.2023; 135(7): 727. CrossRef

First
Prev
Page of 1
Next
Last

Search