Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine was 93 percent effective at preventing hospitalizations from the virus in children ages 12 to 18 in a real-world study conducted by the CDC, the agency said Oct. 19.
The study included children hospitalized at 19 pediatric hospitals in 16 states between June and September, during the spread of the highly contagious delta variant. Pediatric hospitalizations hit their highest level of the pandemic nationwide in September, according to The New York Times.
Of the 179 patients in the study who tested positive for COVID-19, 3 percent were vaccinated and 97 percent were unvaccinated. Twenty nine of the patients needed life support, and two died, all unvaccinated.
The six vaccinated patients who tested positive for COVID-19 also had shorter hospital stays, with a median stay of three days, compared to five days for unvaccinated patients.
Seventy-two of the COVID-19 patients included in the study had at least one underlying health condition, such as obesity or asthma, which put them at higher risk of severe disease.
As of Oct. 18, 46 percent of children ages 12 to 15 were fully vaccinated in the U.S., and 54 percent of children ages 16 to 17 were fully vaccinated, CDC data shows.
Find the CDC's full study results here.