The side effects of the Pfizer-BioNTech jab against COVID-19 are likely to be mild to moderate and clear up quickly in 12-15-year-olds at high risk of complications from the infection because of certain coexisting conditions, reveals a small study accepted for publication in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Although the study numbers are small, the data are representative of those teens most likely to benefit from the vaccination and should offer reassurance to parents and clinicians, say the authors. 

Healthy children with COVID-19 infection generally have a mild illness, but some coexisting conditions, particularly neurological conditions, are associated with severe disease. 

These high-risk children were therefore shielded to reduce their risk of infection, and wouldn’t have been included in early vaccine safety studies, say the authors.

The UK’s vaccine advisory group, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), advised that children aged 12 and over with severe neurological disabilities, who tend to get