Children with underlying health conditions only suffer mild or moderate side effects from the Pfizer Covid vaccine that disappear within a few days, a study has found.
A small study of 27 at-risk 12 to 15-year-olds in the UK that were double-jabbed with Pfizer found only one experienced severe tiredness, discomfort and agitation, while the rest had mild symptoms.
Covid itself is a mild illness for the vast majority of children and many show no symptoms at all.
But youngsters with underlying health conditions are at greater risk of severe illness, so children aged 12 to 15 who are clinically vulnerable or live with adults who are have been invited to get a vaccine.
Children with neurological conditions — such as muscular dystrophy and cerebral palsy — accounted for 11 per cent of children hospitalised with Covid and 26 per cent of those with severe and fatal disease.
It comes amid a debate on whether Covid jabs should be rolled out to all over-12s, especially as the return of schools is expected to lead to a rise in infections.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, the UK's medicines watchdog, has approved the Pfizer and Moderna jabs for all over-12s.
And NHS England has been told to prepare to give the age group vaccines in the coming weeks.
But the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation , which advises the Government on the rollout, has only approved Covid jabs in over-16s.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, the UK's medicines watchdog, has approved the Pfizer and Moderna jabs for all over-12s. In the study of 27 children in the UK, all were given the Pfizer vaccine
Parents reported their children to suffer from a sore arm, general discomfort, a fever and tiredness after the first and second doses, but the majority of these side effects were mild
To understand the side effects of the Pfizer jab in vulnerable children, researchers at the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children asked the parents of 27 youngsters to record any side effects their children experienced after being vaccinated.
The participating youngsters all suffered from neurological conditions, such as muscular dystrophy and cerebral palsy, along with medical conditions including epilepsy and immune deficiency.
Three of the participants were in hospital during the study, 16 were boys and 21 were white.
What were the most common side-effects among vulnerable 12 to 15-year-olds?
Among 27 children at-risk from Covid who were given two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, six parents reported side effects that fit into four categories.
Reported side effects after a first dose of Pfizer
Discomfort: 10
Fatigue: 4
Fever: 3
Redness: 1
Reported side effects after a second dose of Pfizer
Fatigue: 6
Discomfort: 5
Fever: 3
Redness: 2
Parents of six children reported side effects after the first dose that were 'mild to moderate' and went away within three days.
These included a mild rash, a headache, diarrhoea, sore throat, neck pain, difficult sleeping and low blood sugar.
There was an exception, with one child who experienced severe tiredness and discomfort, combined with increased agitation.
One family reported a change in seizure type but this was resolved a week after the vaccine.
Five of the children had effects including diarrhoea, vomiting, armpit swelling and blisters around the mouth after the second dose.
Fever was more common than in adult studies, with 13 per cent of the children having a temperature greater than 38C compared with 4 per cent in people aged between 16 and 55.
Other recorded adverse events all resolved within a week, the study noted.
The researchers said: ‘Numbers were small but these data are especially important as they are representative of the children who are most likely to benefit from vaccination and parents and clinicians may have concerns regarding an increased risk of unexpected events.’
Russell Viner, Professor of Adolescent Health at University College London, said: ‘These data are generally reassuring that the Pfizer Covid vaccine produces few side-effects in a group with severe disability and very high medical needs, although one child had severe fatigue and discomfort and another had a brief change in seizure type.
‘This should reassure parents and doctors that there are no special precautions or issues with this vaccine in this small group of children.
‘However these data can tell us very little about rare side effects or about vaccinating healthy teenagers or those with common conditions such as asthma and diabetes.
‘For that we must await further data in the order of millions of doses.
‘There were no cases of myocarditis reported, however US reports suggest this occurs in around 1 in 15,000 second vaccine doses in young men, so these data on 27 cases can’t be informative about myocarditis.
‘Furthermore, nearly 40 per cent of the teenagers had cardiac impairment and this may have obscured any issues.’