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Compare the risks and benefits

To make the decision that’s best for your child, it’s useful to think about how the risks associated with COVID-19 compare with the risks of vaccination.

The charts on this page put those risks side by side so you can easily compare them. Here's how to use the charts:

  1. Select the vaccine you'd like to know more about. Your doctor may recommend a particular vaccine depending on your child’s age, or the availability of vaccines in your area.
  2. Select whether you want to see risks as a percentage (%), or as numbers of people (for example, 'per 1,000' or 'per million').
  3. Compare the risks of the virus with the risks of the vaccine. Click where indicated to expand the chart and see risks of specific symptoms in more detail.
     

Which vaccine would you like to know more about?

5-11 years Pfizer/BioNTech

12-15 years Pfizer/BioNTech

12-15 years Moderna

About the vaccine

The vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech is known as 'Comirnaty', or BNT162b2, or most commonly as 'the Pfizer vaccine'.

It is an mRNA vaccine which means it uses genetic code from a part of the virus to train your child’s immune system. The genetic code is quickly broken down by the body and cleared away. Your child can not catch COVID-19 from Comirnaty (Pfizer).

After the second dose, Comirnaty (Pfizer) is around 90% effective against the Delta variant in children.1-2  Effectiveness against Omicron is still unknown but if your child catches COVID-19 after they've been vaccinated, their illness will usually be mild.

How it is delivered

Your child will be given two injections, eight weeks apart.3,4 The amount given is one third of the adult dose.3,4  The time between doses can be shortened to three weeks for children with medical risk factors for severe illness.3

The chart below compares the risks of COVID-19 with the risks of the Pfizer vaccine.5-20

  • Percentage of people
  • Number of people
HEALTH RISKS
With COVID-19
Percentage of people
Number of people
With Vaccine
symptoms age 5-11 years
72%
72 in 100
31%
31 in 100
2-3 weeks
DURATION OF SYMPTOMS
1-3 days
+ CLICK TO SEE INDIVIDUAL SYMPTOMS
0%
zero
injection pain, redness, swelling
27%
27 in 100
47%
47 in 100
fever
5%
5 in 100
64%
64 in 100
cough
0%
zero
19%
19 in 100
fatigue
15%
15 in 100
6%
6 in 100
muscle or joint pain
8%
8 in 100
9%
9 in 100
shortness of breath
0%
zero
33%
33 in 100
sore throat
0%
zero
15%
15 in 100
headache
11%
11 in 100
6%
6 in 100
nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea
4%
4 in 100
70%
70 in 100
runny/stuffy nose
0%
zero
multisystem inflammatory syndrome
0.04%
40 in 100,000
0%
zero
inflammation of the heart muscle
0.03%
30 in 100,000
0.0001%
1 in 1 million
severe allergic reactions
0%
zero
0.0005%
5 in 1 million
hospitalisation
per capita 0.002%
2 in 100,000 per capita
up to 0.0001%
up to 1 in 1 million
intensive care
no current data
no current data
no current data
no current data
symptoms after 1 month
0.8%
800 in 100,000
0%
zero
death
0.0002%
2 in 1 million
0%
zero
About the vaccine

The vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech is known as 'Comirnaty', or BNT162b2, or most commonly as 'the Pfizer vaccine'.

It is an mRNA vaccine which means it uses genetic code from a part of the virus to train your child’s immune system. The genetic code is quickly broken down by the body and cleared away. Your child can not catch COVID-19 from Comirnaty (Pfizer).

After the second dose, Comirnaty (Pfizer) is over 90% effective against the Delta variant in adolescents aged 12-16 years.1 In adolescents, Comirnaty (Pfizer) is around 93% effective in protecting against hospitalisation with COVID-19 (Delta variant)2 and 90% effective in reducing the risk of the rare but serious post-infection condition, MIS-C (Delta variant).3 These studies were conducted before the emergence of the Omicron variant and we don’t know how effective vaccination is against the Omicron variant yet. If your child catches COVID-19 after they've been vaccinated, their illness will usually be mild.2,3

How it is delivered

Your child will be given two injections, three to six weeks apart.4 The dose is the same as the adult dose.

The chart below compares the risks of COVID-19 with the risks of the Pfizer vaccine.5-20 

  • Percentage of people
  • Number of people
HEALTH RISKS
With COVID-19
Percentage of people
Number of people
With Vaccine
symptoms 12-15 years
72%
72 in 100
48%
48 in 100
2-3 weeks
DURATION OF SYMPTOMS
1-3 days
+ CLICK TO SEE INDIVIDUAL SYMPTOMS
0%
zero
injection pain, redness, swelling
37%
37 in 100
47%
47 in 100
fever
17%
17 in 100
64%
64 in 100
cough
0%
zero
19%
19 in 100
fatigue
38%
38 in 100
6%
6 in 100
muscle or joint pain
24%
24 in 100
9%
9 in 100
shortness of breath
0%
zero
33%
33 in 100
sore throat
0%
zero
15%
15 in 100
headache
34%
34 in 100
6%
6 in 100
nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea
11%
11 in 100
70%
70 in 100
runny/stuffy nose
0%
zero
multisystem inflammatory syndrome
0.03%
30 in 100,000
0%
zero
inflammation of the heart muscle
0.3%
300 in 100,000
0.011%
11 in 100,000
+ CLICK TO SEE PERCENT BY GENDER
(across both genders) 0.3%
(across both genders) 300 in 100,000
Female (12-17 years)
0.002%
2 in 100,000
(across both genders) 0.3%
(across both genders) 300 in 100,000
Male (12-17 years)
0.011%
11 in 100,000
severe allergic reactions
0%
zero
0.0005%
5 in 1 million
Hospitalisation
0.06%
60 in 100,000
up to 0.011%
11 in 100,000
intensive care
0.01%
10 in 100,000
no current data
no current data
symptoms after 1 month
0.8%
800 in 100,000
0%
zero
death
0.0002%
2 in 1 million
0%
zero
About the vaccine

The vaccine developed by Moderna is known as ‘Spikevax’ or 'the Moderna vaccine'.

It is an mRNA vaccine which means it uses genetic code from a part of the virus to train your child’s immune system. The genetic code is quickly broken down by the body and cleared away. Your child can not catch COVID-19 from Spikevax (Moderna).

After the second dose, Spikevax (Moderna) is about 94% effective against COVID-19.1 It may be less effective against more recent variants, such as the Delta and Omicron variants, but it will still protect your child against serious illness, hospitalisation and death.1

How it is delivered

Your child will be given two injections, four to six weeks apart.1 

The chart below compares the risks of COVID-19 with the risks of the Moderna vaccine.1-19

  • Percentage of people
  • Number of people
HEALTH RISKS
With COVID-19
Percentage of people
Number of people
With Vaccine
symptoms
72%
72 in 100
61%
61 in 100
2-3 weeks
DURATION OF SYMPTOMS
1-3 days
+ CLICK TO SEE INDIVIDUAL SYMPTOMS
0%
zero
injection pain, redness, swelling
27%
27 in 100
47%
47 in 100
fever
6%
6 in 100
64%
64 in 100
cough
0%
zero
19%
19 in 100
fatigue
22%
22 in 100
6%
6 in 100
muscle or joint pain
18%
18 in 100
9%
9 in 100
shortness of breath
0%
zero
33%
33 in 100
sore throat
0%
zero
15%
15 in 100
headache
18%
18 in 100
6%
6 in 100
nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea
7%
7 in 100
70%
70 in 100
runny nose
0%
zero
multisystem inflammatory syndrome
0.03%
30 in 100,000
0%
zero
inflammation of the heart muscle
0.3%
300 in 100,000
0.014%
14 in 100,000
+ CLICK TO SEE PERCENT BY GENDER
(across both genders) 0.3%
(across both genders) 300 in 100,000
Female (12-17 years)
0.003%
3 in 100,000
(across both genders) 0.3%
(across both genders) 300 in 100,000
Male (12-17 years)
0.015%
15 in 100,000
severe allergic reactions
0%
zero
0.0003%
2.5 in 1 million
hospitalisation
0.06%
60 in 100,000
up to 0.014%
14 per 100,000
intensive care
0.01%
10 in 100,000
no current data
no current data
symptoms after 1 month
0.8%
800 in 100,000
0%
zero
death
0.0002%
2 in 1 million
0%
zero