Are COVID-19 vaccines safe in children

Are COVID-19 vaccines safe in children?

Clinical trials and real-world studies have shown that COVID-19 vaccines approved for children (5–11 years) and adolescents (≥12 years) are very safe.

They may experience mild side effects after vaccination, but these usually resolve within 48 hours. In the clinical trials for people ≥12 years of age, the most common adverse events following immunisation were injection site pain (80–90%), headache (30–50%) and fatigue (30–60%).

Information from the USA shows that adverse events in children 5–11 years of age were milder and less frequently observed when compared to 16–25 year olds. The most common adverse events were injection site pain, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, chills and fever. In some instances injection site redness and swelling were more common in children than young adults.

In Australia, the Therapeutics Good Administration (TGA), part of the Australian Government Department of Health, is responsible for approving medicines and vaccines for use in Australia. The TGA has a rigorous process for assessing vaccine safety, quality and efficacy before approving vaccines for use in the population. Australia’s national active vaccine safety surveillance system AusVaxSafety also monitors vaccine safety in real-time and provides detailed information on age-specific rates of adverse events, as well as adverse events in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and those with risk conditions. 

In addition, tens of millions of adolescents have been vaccinated in countries that are closely monitoring and reporting on safety, including the USA, Europe, Canada, Israel, Singapore and Japan.

Similarly, over 4.8 million children 5–11 years of age have received at least one dose of the paediatric Pfizer vaccine in the USA, which is more than the total population for this age group in Australia.

https://www.ncirs.org.au/covid-19/covid-19-and-children-frequently-asked-questions