COVID-19 vaccines sharply reduced children’s risk of emergency department and urgent care visits in the first six months after vaccination, according to a Dec. 11 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC analyzed data from more than 44,500 visits among children 9 months to 4 years old and more than 53,000 visits among children 5 to 17. Researchers found that the vaccines lowered the risk of requiring emergency or urgent care by 76% in children under 4, and 56% in those ages 5 to 17.
The study reviewed encounters from Aug. 29, 2024, to Sept. 2, 2025, using data from the VISION network, which aggregates EHRs from nine states.
The findings highlight the effectiveness of COVID vaccines in protecting children from severe illness, despite low infection rates and low vaccine uptake in these age groups. The CDC said the results were statistically significant.
The report comes amid broader scrutiny of COVID vaccine safety. The FDA recently expanded its review of potential COVID-19 vaccine-related deaths to include adults, following claims from the FDA’s Vinay Prasad, MD, that 10 pediatric deaths may be linked to the vaccines. However, the agency has not released data to support these claims.
Despite this, public health experts continue to emphasize the overwhelming safety of the COVID-19 vaccines, which have saved more than 2,000 children’s lives.
