December 11, 2025
2 min read
Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm
COVID Vaccines Slashed Kids’ ER Visits by 76 Percent, Study Finds
A report published by the CDC reaffirms the effectiveness of COVID vaccines at preventing severe disease in children
A child picks out a Band-Aid as he prepares to get his COVID vaccination in San Jose, Calif., in 2022.
Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/The Mercury News via Getty Images
The COVID vaccines reduced the risk of emergency room or urgent care visits by 76 percent in children aged nine months through four years and by 56 percent in those aged five through 17 compared with children who didn’t receive a vaccine, according to a study in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s weekly report.
The findings, published in the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, reaffirm the vaccines’ effectiveness at keeping kids out of the hospital, even if they have previously been infected with COVID or vaccinated against the disease.
In June 2024 the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended that all people aged six months or older receive a COVID vaccine. In September 2025, in a move many experts disagreed with, a revamped ACIP handpicked by Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., revised its recommendation, calling for people aged six months or older to get vaccinated only in consultation with a health care provider.
On supporting science journalism
If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
The new study looked at a period spanning from August 29, 2024, through September 2, 2025, across nine states. During that time, about 38,000 children were hospitalized with COVID—a rate of about 53 per 100,000. The highest rate was in children younger than six months old, of whom 600 per 100,000 were hospitalized. Children under six months of age are too young to get vaccinated, but vaccination during pregnancy provides some protection for those first six months.
“These findings suggest that vaccination with a 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine dose provided children with additional protection against COVID-19–associated [emergency department or urgent care] encounters compared with no 2024–2025 dose,” the report states.
The findings come in stark contrast to recent statements made by Kennedy, who has called the COVID vaccine, without evidence, “the deadliest vaccine ever made.” A recently leaked memo from a Food and Drug Administration official linked the deaths of 10 children to COVID vaccines without providing evidence. The agency is now reportedly expanding its investigation to adult deaths.
Numerous studies have found the COVID vaccines to be safe and effective, saving millions of lives worldwide.
It’s Time to Stand Up for Science
If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.
I’ve been a Scientific American subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.
If you subscribe to Scientific American, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.
In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can’t-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world’s best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.
There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you’ll support us in that mission.
