Pfizer covid vaccine protects adolescents against multisystem inflammatory syndrome, cdc says

In this article * BNTX * PFE Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Safeway pharmacist Ashley McGee fills a syringe with the Pfizer COVID-19 booster vaccination at a vaccination

booster shot clinic on October 01, 2021 in San Rafael, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images Two doses of Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine are highly effective at protecting children

12 to 18 from a severe inflammatory condition associated with Covid infection, a new study found. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a report published Friday, found that

Pfizer's vaccination was 91% effective at protecting adolescents against multisystem inflammatory syndrome, or MIS-C. The CDC study looked at 283 hospitalized patients ages 12 to 18

across 24 pediatric hospitals in 20 states from July through December 2021 when delta was the predominant variant. The analysis focused on the 12- to 18-year age group because Pfizer shots

weren't available to younger kids until November. The CDC noted that vaccine efficacy against MIS-C caused by the omicron variant, which is now dominant in the U.S., could not be

determined due to the timing of the study. MORE CNBC HEALTH COVERAGE * From ‘Cockroach Award’ to the Big Board: Hinge Health’s unlikely path to IPO * How UnitedHealthcare became the face of

America’s health insurance frustrations * When 20,000 devices were paralyzed by a bad update, a Georgia health system turned to Apple MIS-C is a serious condition in which different parts of

the body become inflamed, such as the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs. Children usually develop MIS-C two to six weeks after an asymptomatic or mild

Covid infection, according to the CDC. More than 6,000 children have developed MIS-C since May 2020 and 55 have died, according to CDC data. The majority of MIS-C patients are Hispanic or

Black, most are boys and half are between 5 and 13 years old. Of the known MIS-C cases, 98% tested positive for Covid while 2% had exposure to the virus, according to the CDC. The CDC study

compared 102 hospitalized MIS-C patients with 181 patients who either tested negative for Covid or did not have symptoms. The overwhelming majority of MIS-C patients, 95%, were unvaccinated.

None of the five fully vaccinated MIS-C patients required life support, while 39% of unvaccinated MIS-C patients did need life support. "This analysis lends supportive evidence that

vaccination of children and adolescents is highly protective against MIS-C and Covid-19 and underscores the importance of vaccination of all eligible children," the CDC concluded in its

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Children ages 5 and up are now eligible to receive the two-dose Pfizer vaccine. Adolescents ages 12 and up are eligible for Pfizer booster shots at

least five months after their second dose.