SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccination for adolescents and young adult patients treated at a specialist pediatric oncology unit

Nigro, Olga; Sironi, Giovanna; Bergamaschi, Luca; Gattuso, Giovanna; Puma, Nadia; Livellara, Virginia; Chiaravalli, Stefano; Ferrari, Andrea; Massimino, Maura

This brief report describes the SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccination program at our pediatric oncology unit. Adopting Italian regulations, patients treated for cancer within the previous 6 months were offered vaccination with the Pfizer‐BioNtech vaccine if aged ≥16 years, and with the Pfizer‐BioNtech or Moderna vaccine if aged ≥18 years. From March 24 to April 28, 2021, 80/89 adolescent and young adult patients enrolled were vaccinated, while nine refused the vaccine due to fear of side effects, disbelief regarding the pandemic, or lack of trust in the scientific community. The refusal rate in our cohort was lower than in the Italian general population.