ABSTRACT
In May 2021, Qatar launched the BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine campaign for adolescents aged 12 to 15 years across all 27 health centers. Our study assessed the safety and efficacy of the vaccine among vaccinated and nonvaccinated adolescents in Qatar. Using a retrospective observational study, we analyzed the medical records of 1956 adolescents who were severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) positive from June 17 to December 17, 2021. The mean age for the vaccinated group was 13.89 ± 0.93 years, and for the nonvaccinated group, it was 12.99 ± 0.93 years. In the vaccinated group, 46% were male (n = 185) compared with 53% in the nonvaccinated group (n = 827) and 54% were female in the vaccinated group (n = 217) versus 47% in the nonvaccinated group (n = 727). Our findings demonstrate satisfactory protection provided by the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, with only one fifth of the study population contracting SARS-CoV-2 infections after the double-dose regimen. These results highlight the importance of maximizing vaccination coverage and considering booster doses for adolescents to enhance protection.
