Pfizer Vaccine ‘Safe and Protective’ for Adolescents – Early Data Release
Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech say their COVID-19 vaccine is safe and protective in children as young as 12.

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is safe and protective in children as young as 12 with no serious side effects in adolescents who received the vaccination, the company said on Wednesday.

Interim results of a recent clinical trial of some 2,260 adolescents ages 12-15 years old was published by the pharma company – although it has not yet undergone peer review. The adolescents who participated in the trial produced strong antibody responses and experienced no serious side effects, the company said, saying the vaccine had demonstrated “100 % efficacy”.

Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech plan to ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European regulators to allow emergency use of the shots among adolescents, beginning at age 12. Pfizer’s vaccine is already authorised by regulatory authorities for teens ages 16 and older.“We share th e urgency to expand the use of our vaccine,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement. He expressed “the hope of starting to vaccinate this age group before the start of the next school year” in the United States.

Pfizer isn’t the only company seeking to lower the age limit for its vaccine. Results also are expected soon from a U.S. study of Moderna’s vaccine in 12- to 17-year-olds. Another vaccine study of safety and efficacy in children ages 6 months to 11 years is also underway, but that has yet to yield preliminary results.

See the full release here.

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