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. 2022 Dec 7;11(Supplement_4):S141-S147.
doi: 10.1093/jpids/piac091.

Pediatric COVID-19 Health Disparities and Vaccine Equity

Carlos R Oliveira  1   2 , Kristen A Feemster  3   4 , Erlinda R Ulloa  5   6
Affiliations

Pediatric COVID-19 Health Disparities and Vaccine Equity

Carlos R Oliveira et al. J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc. .

Abstract

While most children with coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) experience mild illness, some are vulnerable to severe disease and develop long-term complications. Children with disabilities, those from lower-income homes, and those from racial and ethnic minority groups are more likely to be hospitalized and to have poor outcomes following an infection. For many of these same children, a wide range of social, economic, and environmental disadvantages have made it more difficult for them to access COVID-19 vaccines. Ensuring vaccine equity in children and decreasing health disparities promotes the common good and serves society as a whole. In this article, we discuss how the pandemic has exposed long-standing injustices in historically marginalized groups and provide a summary of the research describing the disparities associated with COVID-19 infection, severity, and vaccine uptake. Last, we outline several strategies for addressing some of the issues that can give rise to vaccine inequity in the pediatric population.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; health disparities; pediatric; vaccines.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Conceptual model for understanding the determinants of vaccine uptake.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK425848/ Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity. - PubMed
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    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsrr/VSRR015-508.pdf Provisional Life Expectancy Estimates for 2020.
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/healthequity/racism-disparities/impact-of-racism.html Impact of Racism on our Nation’s Health.
    1. American Academy of Pediatrics. https://www.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/... Children and COVID-19: State-Level Data Report.

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