FDA grants Pfizer emergency use for COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 12 to 15

The Food and Drug Administration has expanded the emergency use authorization for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to children aged 12 to 15, meaning access for millions more adolescents. The Pfizer vaccine is so far still the only one approved for use in 16-to-18 year olds. 

The emergency use authorization had been expected. An analysis that included 1,005 vaccine participants in this age group found the vaccine was 100% effective in preventing COVID-19.  "The FDA's expansion of the emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to include adolescents 12 through 15 years of age is a significant step in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic," said acting FDA commissioner Janet Woodcock, M.D. "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. 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."