Pfizer For Adolescents: US Approves 2-Dose Vaccine For 12-15 Year Old Children

In a significant step in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, the US drug controller FDA authorized the use of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine to kids ages 12 to 15 on an emergency use basis. 

Pfizer

The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved Pfizer and BioNTech’s request and authorized the use of the Covid-19 vaccine to kids ages 12 to 15 on an emergency use basis. 

According to reports, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee has scheduled a meeting on Wednesday to review the vaccine for kids. If approved, the two-dose vaccine is expected to be distributed to adolescents as soon as this week.

As quoted by AFP, the acting FDA commissioner Janet Woodcock in a statement said that the move is a "significant step in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic." 

"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," Woodcock said." 

"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," she added.

In late March, the vaccine makers claimed that the dose of found to be 100 per cent effective in a clinical trial of more than 2,000 adolescents. Untill now, the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine was  authorized for use in people 16 and older. 

As stated in reports, children make up around 20 per cent of the total US population. About 1.5 million Covid-19 cases in individuals aged 11 to 17 years old have been reported between March 1, 2020 through April 30, 2021. As per the experts, the virus is believed to be generally milder in children but they can pass it on to more vulnerable adults.