Pfizer jab ‘100% effective’ in younger teenagers
The Pfizer Covid-19 jab is "100 per cent effective and well tolerated" among children aged 12 to 15, a new study suggests.
Pfizers aid it now plans to seek approval for use of the vaccine in this age group from regulators around the world and hopes youngsters will start to receive the jab before the next school year.
The pharmaceutical company said it plans to submit the data to the UK regulator the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency - within the next couple of months.
Researchers examined the use of the Pfizer/biontech vaccine in a trial of 2,260 teenagers in the US.
Half were given the jab and the other half were given a placebo drug.
There were no Covid-19 cases seen in the group who received the vaccine and 18 infections among those who did not.
Albert Bourla, chief executiveofpfizer,s aid :" we share the urgency to expand the authorisation 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.
"We plan to submit these data to FDA (the US Food and Drug Administration) as a proposed amendment to our emergency use authorisation 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."
Ugur Sahin, chief executive and co-founder of Biontech, said: "Across the globe, we are longing for a normal life. This is especially true for our children.
"The initial results we have seen in the adolescent studies suggest that children are particularly well protected by vaccination, which is very encouraging given the trends we have seen in recent weeks regarding the spread of the B.1.1.7 UK variant.
"It is very important to enable them to get back to everyday school life and to meet friends and family while protecting them and their loved ones."
Pfizer said the jab "demonstrated 100 per cent efficacy and robust antibody responses exceeding those reported in trial of vaccinated 16-25-year-old participants in an earlier analysis".