Unvaccinated children are less at risk of death from COVID-19 than fully vaccinated adults: England report

A recent update from Public Health England suggests that children who have not received a COVID-19 vaccine have a lower risk of death after contracting the virus than fully vaccinated adults in all age groups.

Public Health England, a government agency, reported (pdf) that three children under 18 died in England within 28 days of testing positive for COVID-19 out of a total of 167,832 cases over a three-week period . Data showed that none of the three people who died had been vaccinated.

In other age groups, people aged 18 to 29 and 30 to 39 are slightly more likely to die from the virus within 28 days of testing positive, even if they were vaccinated with two doses. according to the report released on September 9. the total number of 18 to 29 year olds who died after testing positive for COVID-19 in the 28 was 18, and 13 were not vaccinated. Forty-five people aged 30 to 39 have died from COVID-19, and 31 of them have not been vaccinated.

Recent data on deaths from COVID-19 provided by Public Health England as of September 9, 2021 (Public Health England)

Data also showed that in the recent three-week period, 1,119 people over the age of 80 died from the virus, of which only 155 were not vaccinated. For the 70 to 79 age group, 580 people died from COVID-19 within 28 days, but only 129 were unvaccinated, according to the report.

Public Health England argued that vaccines are always beneficial in preventing deaths from COVID-19, but stressed that none are 100% effective.

“This is especially true because immunization has been prioritized for those most likely or most at risk for serious disease,” the report says. “Individuals in risk groups may also be at greater risk of hospitalization or death from causes unrelated to COVID-19, and therefore may be hospitalized or die with COVID-19 rather than from COVID-19. . “

The UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization recommended that children aged 12 to 15 not be offered the vaccine and raised concerns that more children could develop more side effects related to it. vaccine than to be negatively impacted by COVID-19.

“By taking a precautionary approach, this profit margin is considered too small to support universal COVID-19 vaccination for this age group at this time,” the organization said in a statement earlier this month. . The organization said it wanted more data on the association between COVID-19 vaccines and myocarditis, or a type of heart inflammation, in young people.

And one of the committee members, Adam Finn, argued that “the number of severe cases that we are seeing of COVID in children of this age is really very low,” according to Reuters.

COVID-19 is the disease caused by the virus of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party).