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Review
. 2022 Aug;309(1):90-96.
doi: 10.1111/imr.13108. Epub 2022 Jul 7.

Routine SARS-CoV-2 vaccination for all children

Kristina De Paris  1 , Sallie R Permar  2
Affiliations
Review

Routine SARS-CoV-2 vaccination for all children

Kristina De Paris et al. Immunol Rev. 2022 Aug.

Abstract

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented health and economic losses. Children generally present with less severe disease from this virus compared with adults, yet neonates and children with COVID-19 can require hospitalization, and older children can develop severe complications, such as the multisystem inflammatory syndrome, resulting in >1500 deaths in children from COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic. The introduction of effective SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in school-age children and adult populations combined with the emergence of new, more highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variants has resulted in a proportional increase of infections in young children. Here, we discuss (1) the current knowledge on pediatric SARS-CoV-2 infection and pathogenesis in comparison with adults, (2) the data on vaccine immunogenicity and efficacy in children, and (3) the benefits of early life SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.

Keywords: MIS-C; SARS-CoV-2; children; infant immunity; vaccines.

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Conflict of interest statement

Dr. Permar serves a consultant to GSK, Merck, Pfizer, Moderna, Hoopika, and Dynavax on their vaccine programs for cytomegalovirus (CMV), and has a sponsored program on CMV vaccine development with Moderna and Merck. Dr. Permar also serves as an educator on CMV for Medscape.

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