Pfizer-BioNTech ’s COVID-19 Vaccine Works for Teens, According to a New Study

Pfizer-BioNTech says their COVID-19 vaccine is 100% efficacious in protecting adolescents aged 12 to 15 years from COVID-19 disease. On March 31, the companies released a statement summarizing the results of their study of the safety and efficacy of their vaccine, which is already authorized in the U.S. and elsewhere for use in adults 16 years or older, in this younger age group. The results have been highly anticipated as state and local leaders—not to mention parents—are to keen send teens back to in-person school; this study suggests a path towards a return to pre-pandemic learning conditions, in which students won’t spread COVID-19 in the classroom. The trial involved 2,260 adolescents 12 to 15 years old, who were randomly assigned to get two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine or two doses of placebo. During the study, which began earlier this year, 18 teens developed COVID-19, all of them in the placebo group. The researchers found that the levels of virus-fighting antibodies generated by those getting the vaccine were considerably higher than levels among those receiving the placebo. “We share the urgency to expand use of our vaccine to additional populations and are encouraged by the clinical trial data from adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in the statement. Based on the new data, the companies plan to ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency to expand emergency ...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Source Type: news