Pfizer Says Their Vaccine Is 100% Effective in Teens

Pfizer announced on Wednesday that their COVID-19 vaccine is safe and "strongly protective" in kids as young as the age of 12.

The vaccine had previously been approved via an emergency authorization for individuals over the age of 16.

Pfizer's announcement says that a Phase 3 trial of participants between the ages of 12 and 15 found that the "vaccine elicited strong antibody responses one month after the second dose." The responses exceeded those demonstrated in persons between the ages of 16 and 25 in previous trials.

In fact, there were no cases of COVID-19 reported in the volunteers who got the vaccine (vs. those who got the placebo). The data has yet to be peer-reviewed, but it could be a key development as the nation looks to reopen schools for in-person learning this fall.

Similar Side Effects

Pfizer/BioNTech says that side effects have been seen in this age group (similar to those over the age of 16). Those include pain at the injection site, fatigue, and small fevers.

"We share the urgency to expand the authorization of our vaccine to use in younger populations and are encouraged by the clinical trial data from adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15," Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said on Wednesday. "We plan to submit these data to FDA as a proposed amendment to our Emergency Use Authorization in the coming weeks and to other regulators around the world, with the hope of starting to vaccinate this age group before the start of the next school year."

Results are expected soon in the Moderna vaccine trial for teenagers under the age of 16.

Results are expected soon in the Moderna vaccine trial for teenagers under the age of 16.