Help protect children from COVID-19
Encourage your patients to make COVID-19 vaccination part of their pediatric vaccination schedule to reduce the public health burden of this vaccine-preventable disease.¹
What to know about COVID-19 & children
1.
Children in the US are undervaccinated against COVID-19.
62.4 million US children are not up to date on the recommended COVID-19 vaccination.²*
2.
Young children are at high risk for severe outcomes.
Despite this risk, only 5.8% of kids ages 6-23 months have an updated COVID vaccine.³
3.
Parents trust their child's doctor about COVID-19 vaccine advice.
71.8% of parents said they completely or mostly trust their child's doctor regarding advice about COVID-19 vaccination.⁴
~62.4m
children are not up to date on their COVID vaccines.²
71.8%
of parents said they completely or mostly trust their child's doctor regarding advice about COVID-19 vaccination.⁴
Pediatric disease burden
Episode 1: Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccination Rates
2 min 2 sec
Episode 2: Post-COVID Conditions Resulting from Pediatric COVID-19
2 min 7 sec
Episode 3: Effective Conversations with Parents About COVID-19 Vaccination 1
1 min 46 sec
Episode 4: Effective Conversations with Parents About COVID-19 Vaccination 2
1 min 57 sec
Episode 5: CDC, AAP, and ACIP Recommended COVID-19 Vaccinations
2 minEpisode 1: Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccination Rates2 min 2 secExplores pediatric COVID-19 vaccination rates, focusing on the concerns parents may have.
Episode 1: Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccination Rates
2 min 2 secEpisode 2: Post-COVID Conditions Resulting from Pediatric COVID-19
2 min 7 secEpisode 3: Effective Conversations with Parents About COVID-19 Vaccination 1
1 min 46 secEpisode 4: Effective Conversations with Parents About COVID-19 Vaccination 2
1 min 57 secEpisode 5: CDC, AAP, and ACIP Recommended COVID-19 Vaccinations
2 minCOVID-19-related hospitalizations among infants <1 year outpace that of influenza⁵
Hospitalization rate per 100,000 population
16.0
12.0
8.0
4.0
0.0
OctO
NovN
DecD
JanJ
FebF
MarM
AprA
MayM
JunJ
JulJ
Surveillance month
COVID-19
Influenza
Last updated: 08/09/2024
COVID complications in children
For children who had COVID infections, up to half experience GI issues (50.2%), with other symptoms including headaches (35.6%), cough (34.7%), and fever (25.8%).⁶
Children may suffer from severe complications due to COVID-19 infection, including pneumonia; blood clots; liver, heart, or kidney damage; long COVID; and death.⁷
Post-COVID conditions
Additional complications associated with pediatric COVID-19, which were previously rare or uncommon among this age group, now factor into the public health burden.⁸
After COVID-19 infection, children and adolescents younger than 18 years old had higher rates of:⁸
- Acute pulmonary embolism
- Myocarditis and cardiomyopathy
- Venous thrombotic events
- Acute and unspecified renal failure
- Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes
- Coagulation and hemorrhagic disorders
- Cardiac dysrhythmias
Pneumonia
Blood clots
Liver damage
Heart damage
Kidney damage
Long COVID
Icons represent a selection of primary COVID-19 complications in children.
What is MIS-C?
MIS-C (Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children) is a rare but serious delayed immune response to COVID-19.9
MIS-C generally occurs 2 to 6 weeks after COVID-19 infection and is characterized by:
- Fever of 38.0°C (100.4°F) or greater
- Inflammation
- New-onset manifestations in two or more categories, such as cardiac, shock, hematologic, gastrointestinal, or dermatologic conditions.9,10
COVID-19 vaccination has been shown to decrease the incidence of MIS-C in pediatric patients.¹¹
- In a national observational study, 88% of children hospitalized for COVID-19 were not vaccinated, and 29% of these children required ICU-level care.¹²
- In a 2023 CDC surveillance report, almost all MIS-C patients were unvaccinated and those whose vaccine-induced immunity had likely waned.¹³
Under-vaccination in children
Despite the risks, many American children are not up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines.³
COVID-19 vaccination coverage and intent for vaccination in children†
Percentage
100
50
0
6 months-4 years
6-23 months
5-17 years
5-11 years
12-17 years
Age group
Definitely or probably will not get a vaccine
Probably will get a vaccine or are unsure
Definitely will get a vaccine
Received a vaccination
Last updated: 05/11/2024
The value of a strong recommendation from a trusted source
Research on vaccine-hesitancy shows that a parent's trust in their child's pediatrician is among the most influential factors they consider when deciding whether to get their child a COVID-19 vaccine.¹⁴
By making a strong recommendation, pediatricians can motivate parents and caregivers to consider COVID-19 vaccination for their child.¹⁵
Trust in sources for vaccine information⁴
Percentage of trust
60
40
20
0
Their child's pediatrician
Other healthcare providers
Government vaccine experts
Family and friends
The CDC, AAP, and ACIP recommend the updated COVID-19 vaccination for all children without contraindications aged 6 months and older.16,17
Doing so can broaden vaccine-induced immunity and help provide protection against the currently circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants and severe COVID-19-associated illness and death.¹⁸Get the guides: COVID-19 disease burden overview for pediatrics
Learn more about how COVID-19 can impact your patients
Footnotes
* Based on a 2023 US population estimate of 334,914,895 from the Census Bureau, with children under 18y making up roughly 21.7% of the estimated population (or approximately 72.68 million people). “Up to date” refers to children over 5y who received at least one dose of the updated 2023-24 COVID-19 vaccine (i.e., Those who received a vaccine after September 14, 2023). For children <5 years, up-to-date status was defined based on the current recommendations (taking into account the number of doses and brand of vaccine). Estimates of vaccination coverage are based on parental reports.
References
- Centers for Disease Control, “Staying Up to Date with COVID-19 Vaccines.” Updated July 3, 2024. Accessed August 12, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/covid/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html
- Centers for Disease Control, “Weekly COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard.” Updated May 11, 2024. Accessed July 15, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/covidvaxview/weekly-dashboard
- Centers for Disease Control, “Child Coverage and Parental Intent for Vaccination.” Updated March 6, 2024. Accessed April 5, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/covidvaxview/weekly-dashboard/child-coverage-vaccination.html
- Szilagyi, P. et al. “Parents' Intentions and Perceptions About COVID-19 Vaccination for Their Children: Results from a National Survey,” Pediatrics, Vol. 148(4), 2021. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10116994/
- Centers for Disease Control, “Respiratory Virus Hospitalization Surveillance Network (RESP-NET).” Updated July 26, 2024. Accessed July 29, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/resp-net/dashboard/
- Behnood, S. et al. “Persistent Symptoms are Associated with Long Term Effects of COVID-19 Among Children and Young People: Results from a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Controlled Studies,” PloS One, Vol. 18(12), 2023. https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10754445/
- Centers for Disease Control, “Older Children and Teens Need Vaccines Too!” Updated August 14, 2024. Accessed August 12, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/imz-schedules/adolescent-easyread.html
- Kompaniyets L, et al. “Post-COVID-19 Symptoms and Conditions Among Children and Adolescents — United States, March 1, 2020-January 31, 2022.” Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), Vol 71, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7131a3.htm
- National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, “Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) Associated with SARS-CoV-2 Infection 2023 Case Definition,” Updated February 28, 2023. Accessed August 12, 2024. https://ndc.services.cdc.gov/case-definitions/multisystem-inflammatory-syndrome-in-children-mis-c-2023/
- Miller A. et al., “Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children During Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Delta and Omicron Variant Circulation—United States, July 2021-January 2022,” Clinical Infectious Diseases, Vol. 75, 2022. https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/75/Supplement_2/S303/6605071
- Yousaf, A. et al., “Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children Among Persons Who Completed a Two-dose COVID-19 Vaccine Primary Series Compared with Those Reporting No COVID-19 Vaccination, US National MIS-C Surveillance,” The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, Vol. 42(12), 2023. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11262462/
- Zambrano, L. et al., “Characteristics and Clinical Outcomes of Vaccine-Eligible US Children Under-5 Years Hospitalized for Acute COVID-19 in a National Network,” The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, Vol. 43(3), 2024). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11261536/
- Yousaf, A. et al., “Notes from the Field: Surveillance for Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children — United States, 2023,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports (MMWR), Vol. 73, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/wr/mm7310a2.htm
- Mondal, P. and A. Sinharoy, “The Influence of Pediatricians' Recommendation on Caregivers' COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance for Children: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Survey Study from USA,” Frontiers in Pediatrics, Vol. 11, 2023. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10203465/
- Centers for Disease Control, “Talking with Parents about Vaccines for Infants.” Updated April 11, 2018. Accessed July 3, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/conversations/talking-with-parents.html
- Centers for Disease Control, “Interim Clinical Considerations for Use of COVID-19 Vaccines in the United States.” Updated Jun 27, 2024. Accessed July 15, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/clinical-considerations/interim-considerations-us.html
- American Academy of Pediatrics, “Why COVID-19 Vaccines are Important for Children.” Updated September 13, 2022. Accessed July 15, 2024. https://www.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/covid-19-vaccine-for-children/why-covid-19-vaccines-are-important-for-children/
- Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, “ACIP Evidence to Recommendations for Use of Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine in Children Ages 6 Months–5 Years and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine in Children Ages 6 Months–4 Years under an Emergency Use Authorization.” Updated September 5, 2024. Accessed October 23, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/acip/evidence-to-recommendations/covid-19-moderna-pfizer-children-vaccine-etr.html
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