Title:COVID-19 Vaccination in Children: An Open Question
Volume: 18
Issue: 3
Author(s): Giuseppe Campagnani, Flaminia Bardanzellu*, Maria Cristina Pintus, Vassilios Fanos and Maria Antonietta Marcialis
Affiliation:
- Department of Surgical Sciences, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, AOU University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy, SS 554
km 4,500, 09042 Monserrato, CA , Italy
Keywords:
COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, immunization, antibody, COVID-19 vaccine efficacy, COVID-19 vaccine safety, children, adolescents, MIS-C, adverse effects.
Abstract:
Background: A safe and effective vaccine represents the best way to control the
COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused more than 4 million deaths to date. Several vaccines have
now been approved worldwide, depending on the country. Being administered to healthy people,
anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines must meet high safety standards, and this is even more important
among the pediatric population in which the risk of developing severe disease is significantly lower
than adults. However, vaccination of the pediatric population could help in reducing viral spread in
the whole population.
Objective: Our narrative review analyzes and discusses the currently available literature on the advantages
and disadvantages of COVID-19 vaccination in the pediatric population.
Methods: A bibliographic research was conducted through Pubmed, Read, and Scopus using
COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, immunization, antibody, COVID-19 vaccine efficacy, COVID-19
vaccine safety, children, adolescents, MIS-C, adverse effects as keywords.
Results: Although children are less susceptible to COVID-19 infection, they can develop serious
consequences, including multi-inflammatory syndrome. However, any vaccine-related side effects
should be evaluated before administering vaccination to children while ensuring complete safety.
To date, adverse effects are reported in adolescents and young adults following vaccination; however,
these are mostly isolated reports.
Conclusion: Further investigation is needed to establish whether there is indeed a cause-and-effect
relationship in the development of vaccine-related adverse effects. However, to date, COVID-19
vaccination is recommended for children and adolescents older than 12 years of age. However, this
question is still under debate and involves ethical, political, and social issues.
