By Erika Edwards- NBC News
Pharmaceutical Pfizer affirmed that its vaccine against COVID-19 is safe and 100% effective in preventing the disease in children between the ages of 12 and 15.
"This is exactly the news we were hoping to hear," said Dr. Buddy Creech, an expert in pediatric infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
Creech was not involved in the Pfizer investigation.
The vaccine, which is administered in two doses three weeks apart, is already licensed for emergency use in people over 16 years of age.
The company plans to request authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the coming weeks for its emergency use for young people between 12 and 15 years of age, "with the hope of starting to vaccinate this age group. before the start of the next school year, "Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement.
"We share the urgency of expanding the authorization of our vaccine for use in younger populations and are encouraged by the data from the clinical trial in adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15," Bourla said.
The results, announced Wednesday in a press release, have not been peer-reviewed.
More than 2,200 young teenagers were enrolled in the Pfizer vaccine trial in the US About half received real vaccines, while the rest received a placebo.
The adult trial was much larger, with more than 43,000 participants.