Almost All Teens in ICU With COVID Were Unvaccinated: Study

Jan. 14, 2022 -- Nearly all teenagers admitted to intensive care units because of COVID-19 were unvaccinated, according to a new study published in TheNew England Journal of Medicine.

Two doses of the vaccine “were highly effective against COVID-19-related hospitalization and ICU admission or the receipt of life support,” the authors of the study concluded.

The Pfizer vaccine prevented 94% of hospitalizations and was 98% effective in keeping the young patients out of the intensive care unit, the study said.

The CDC and 31 pediatric hospitals in 23 states did the study, in which researchers looked at data for 1,222 patients 12-18 years old hospitalized from June 1 to Oct. 25, 2021. Included were 445 teens hospitalized for COVID-19 and 777 hospitalized for other reasons.

The study said 40% of patients who tested positive were admitted to the ICU, and all but two were unvaccinated. All but one of them who needed life-supporting interventions, such as a ventilator, were unvaccinated.