COVID-19 vaccines given to children last fall helped keep many out of emergency rooms (ER) and urgent care, new data shows.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that COVID vaccines reduced the risk of ER visits by 76% in kids under age 4 and by 56% in kids ages 5 to 17 during the first six months after vaccination.
The findings were published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which tracks public health trends.
To reach those conclusions, scientists reviewed electronic health records from hospitals and clinics in nine states. The data came from the CDC’s VISION Network, which tracks respiratory illnesses such as COVID and flu.
The analysis covered ER and urgent care visits between Aug. 29, 2024, and Sept. 2, 2025, including more than 44,500 visits among children ages 9 months to 4 years and more than 53,000 visits among children ages 5 to 17.
While the total number of vaccinated children who ended up needing care was small — 26 cases among older kids — experts say the overall data clearly shows that the vaccines made a difference.
The results are statistically significant and show real protection, Natalie Dean, a biostatistician at Emory University in Atlanta, explained to The New York Times.
Some critics have argued that COVID vaccines offer little benefit to children, who are generally less likely to become seriously ill.
But this new report challenges that idea, showing that the shots still helped prevent more severe symptoms that could lead families right to the ER.
COVID vaccines have been closely monitored since they were first introduced. And apart from rare heart-related side effects mostly seen in young men, no major safety problems have been found, Dr. Adam Ratner, a pediatric infectious disease specialist in New York City, told The Times.
The findings dovetail with concern that fewer kids are getting vaccinated.
“Parents definitely want to keep their kids out of emergency departments and urgent care,” Dean said.
Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said this new report reinforces what pediatric research has been saying for years.
“The burden of pediatric illness from COVID is significant and justifies the importance of COVID immunizations,” he said.