No serious side effects COVID-19 vaccination in young children

A review of more than 245,000 doses of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines given to young children (most of them age 4 and younger) found no indications of serious side effects.

The data came from the Vaccine Safety Datalink, which collects patient medical information from 8 health systems. The researchers examined patient records from June 2022 to March 2023 for both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

Importantly, there was no indication of the heart inflammation called myocarditis among the young vaccinated children, said lead author Kristin Goddard.“We haven’t seen any myocarditis or pericarditis in this youngest age group, which is very reassuring,” Goddard added..

The study examined medical records for 23 serious potential side effects, including outcomes such as blood clots, seizures, stroke, and brain inflammation. Analyses showed no safety concern for any of the selected serious side effects. In particular, the study found no concern for seizures after vaccination, something occasionally seen following other routine childhood immunizations in children under 2 years old.

The analysis covered a large and diverse group of children. It included 135,005 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine given to children age 6 months to 4 years and 112,006 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine given to children age 6 months to 5 years.

Reference:

Kristin Goddard et al,Safety of COVID-19 mRNA Vaccination Among Young Children in the Vaccine Safety Datalink,PEDIATRICS