The Food and Drug administration has authorized the Pfizer vaccine for emergency use in adolescents between ages 12 to 15 years old.
“Today’s action allows for a younger population to be protected from COVID-19, bringing us closer to returning to a sense of normalcy and to ending the pandemic. Parents and guardians can rest assured that the agency undertook a rigorous and thorough review of all available data, as we have with all of our COVID-19 vaccine emergency use authorizations,” Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said.
The vaccine was authorized for emergency use in adults older than 16 earlier this year.
Expanding vaccine availability to younger teenagers could be helpful as officials consider herd immunity and reopening schools.
A study conducted by Pfizer found that the vaccine prevented 100 percent of severe illnesses and deaths from COVID-19 among the teenagers.
In fact, the children showed stronger immune responses to the shot than did the 16- to 25-year-old group Pfizer had previously tested its vaccine in.
However, some children were found to have similar reactions to adults from the second shot including fever, chills, and aches.
