A fresh study authored by CDC scientists is throwing water on the argument that children do not need the COVID-19 vaccine.
Investigators examined electronic health records in nine states of emergency department or urgent care visits from Aug. 29, 2024–Sept. 2, 2025 in two groups: children 9 months–4 years old, and children and adolescents aged 5–17 years old.
Results, published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), found the vaccine cut the the risk of ED/UC COVID-related visits by 76% compared to those who didn’t get the shot in the first group, and 56% in the second group.
“These findings suggest that vaccination with a 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine dose provided children with additional protection against COVID-19–associated ED/UC encounters compared with no 2024–2025 dose,” the authors wrote.
The study noted that the higher rate in younger children might might due to younger children having lower rates of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection.
The authors also noted that infants 6–11 months old during the 2024-25 repiratory virus season had the highest rates of COVID–associated hospitalization of any vaccine–eligible pediatric age group, adding hospitalization rates in this group were higher than all adult age groups other than those aged ≥65 years.