COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to reduce the risk of emergency or urgent care visits among young children, according to new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The findings, published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, are based on an analysis of more than 44,500 children aged nine months through four years.
Of those studied, nearly 1,900 received a COVID-19 vaccine during the 2024–2025 season. The report found that between seven and 179 days after vaccination, the shots were associated with a 76% reduction in disease-related emergency or urgent care visits compared to unvaccinated peers. When the time frame was extended to up to 299 days post-vaccination, effectiveness increased slightly to 77%.
The CDC also reviewed data from almost 53,500 children and adolescents aged five through seventeen. In this older group, vaccine effectiveness in preventing emergency or urgent care visits was lower at 56%. According to the CDC report: “These findings suggest that the updated vaccines provided protection against COVID-19–associated [emergency department/urgent care] visits among children and adolescents.” The agency did not assess safety outcomes in this analysis.
The release of these results comes as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigates claims regarding deaths allegedly linked to COVID-19 vaccination in children. Vinay Prasad, director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at FDA, wrote in an internal memo that “at least 10 children have died ‘because of’ the coronavirus vaccines,” though no supporting data were included.
“For the first time, the US FDA will acknowledge that COVID-19 vaccines have killed American children,” Prasad stated.
The alleged deaths were initially reported by Tracy Beth Høeg—then acting director of FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research—who examined reports filed in VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System). However, VAERS submissions are unverified; as noted by FDA officials, such reports “generally cannot be used to determine if a vaccine caused or contributed to an adverse event or illness.”
Høeg has previously made public statements critical of vaccines. She was appointed head of CDER earlier this month following Richard Pazdur’s retirement three weeks into his tenure.
