By: Bird Bouchard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Ridgetown Independent News
A new study suggests Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine is now 100 percent effective in teens as young as 12 years old.
Pfizer’s vaccine is already authorized for use in people starting at age 16. However, the new study reveals the first evidence of how the vaccine will also work in school-age adolescents.
In a statement from the company, the trial had 2,260 U.S. adolescents aged 12 to 15 where there were 18 cases of COVID-19 in the group that got a placebo shot and none in the group that got the vaccine. This resulted in 100 percent efficacy in preventing COVID-19.
In the test group, 18 cases of Covid-19 were included in the placebo group, while no infections were observed in the control cohort. Those who got the shot continued to have strong immunity against the virus one month after the second dose. Participants will continue to be monitored for another two years to judge long-term protection and safety.
“We share the urgency to expand the authorization of our vaccine to use in younger populations and are encouraged by the clinical trial data,” said Chair and CEO of Pfizer, Albert Bourla.
The company said they plan to submit the data to the Federal Drug Administration in the U.S. as a proposed amendment to their Emergency Use Authorization in the coming weeks and other regulators worldwide. They added they hope to start vaccinating this age group before the start of the next school year.
Meanwhile, the companies gave the first vaccine doses in a series of trials testing the vaccine in younger children, eventually going to those as young as six months of age. Those children will be divided into three age groups, six-months to two-years, two to five years, and five to 11-years. Some of the children received their first dose last week.
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