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As JUCM News has reported, each week brings a new wave of school systems doing away with mask mandates in concert with still-falling caseloads of COVID-19. While that’s generally regarded as good news, some parents and school officials are collectively holding their breath to see if we see a new spike in positive tests or absenteeism. Ongoing efforts to ensure as many eligible children as possible get vaccinated have the potential to help in this regard—and a study just published by Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report reveals new data show there’s cause for optimism on that front. The research, drawn from visits to emergency rooms and urgent care centers, specifically, shows that children between 12 and 17 years of age got a high level of protection (90%) within 149 days of receiving their second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. It also noted, however, that vaccine effectiveness was lower during the Omicron surge. Vaccine effectiveness was restored to 81% after a booster dose in children between 16 and 17 years of age. The 5- to 11-year-old group also saw improved vaccine effectiveness, though at a lower rate than older kids (46%).