Real-World Immunogenicity and Reactogenicity of Two Doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccination in Children Aged 5-11 Years

There are limited data concerning the immunogenicity and reactogenicity of COVID-19 vaccines in children. A total of 110 children, 5-11 years old were vaccinated with two doses (with a 3-week interval between doses) of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and were followed for 21, 90, and 180 days after vaccination for immunogenicity, adverse events, and breakthrough infections. Ninety days after the first vaccine dose, the GeoMean (CI 95%) of IgG ascended to 1291.0 BAU (929.6-1790.2) for uninfected children and 1670.0 BAU (1131.0-2466.0) for Infected children. One hundred and eighty days after receiving the first dose of the vaccine, the titers decreased to 535.5 BAU (288.4-993.6) for the uninfected children, while only a small decline was detected among infected children-1479.0 (878.2-2490.0). The neutralizing antibodies titer almost did not change over time in the uninfected children, and even elevated for the infected children. Of the 110 vaccinated children, 75.5% were infected, with only mild COVID-19 infection symptoms. Child vaccination was found to be safe, with mild, mostly local, and of short duration, reported AEs. No serious adverse events (SAEs) were reported after vaccination. The durability of two doses of vaccine in children is longer, thus a booster may not be needed as early as in adults.