On Mar. 1, 2022, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine protect against COVID-19-associated emergency department and urgent care encounters among children and adolescents.

Two doses protect against COVID-19–associated emergency department and urgent care encounters among children and adolescents. However, vaccine effectiveness (VE) was lower during Omicron predominance and decreased with time since vaccination; a booster dose restored VE to 81% among adolescents aged 16–17 years. Overall, 2-dose VE against COVID-19–associated hospitalization was 73%–94%.

Receipt of 2 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses in persons aged 12–17 years provided a high level of protection (>90%) against COVID-19–associated hospitalizations within 149 days of receipt of the second dose. VE point estimates for second dose received ≥150 days earlier were 73% to 88%; however, differences by time since vaccination were not statistically significant. Additional data are needed to better understand duration of protection against COVID-19–associated hospitalization in adolescents aged 12–17 years, the protection from 3 doses, and the level of protection among children aged 5–11 years.