If the vaccine receives emergency approval, young adolescents could start getting vaccinated before going back to school in the fall, according to the New York Times.
Last week, Pfizer-BioNTech said it’s Phase 3 clinical trials showed its vaccine was safe and 100 percent effective in 12- to 15-year-olds, though the findings have not been peer-reviewed.
Over 2,000 young adolescents participated in a Phase 3 trial of the vaccine. Among those who received the vaccine, none developed symptomatic coronavirus infections or exhibited serious side effects, the companies said.
“The hope of starting to vaccinate this age group before the start of the next school year,” CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement when those results were released, per NBC News.
“Vaccinating our teenagers is the next step in seeing our way through the pandemic,” said Dr. Buddy Creech, a pediatric infectious disease expert at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
“By extending the age groups that can receive the vaccine, we can continue our efforts to protect those that are most vulnerable: older adults as well as adults and teenagers with underlying medical conditions,” said Creech, who was not involved in the Pfizer research.
In a joint statement, Pfizer and BionTech said they plan to ask for emergency authorization from health agencies around the world in the coming days for the vaccine for 12 to 16 year-olds.
“These submissions represent a critical step in Pfizer’s and BioNTech’s ongoing efforts to support governments in broadening global vaccination efforts,” the statement said. Clinical trial results found the vaccine highly effective in that age group, the companies said last month.
If the FDA approves, doses of the vaccine could become available in less than a month — raising hopes that kids will receive the shots in time for the next school year.
