Pfizer on Friday requested to expand use of its Covid-19 vaccine to adolescents ages 12 to 15.
The request asks the Food and Drug Administration to amend the emergency use authorization, which the FDA originally granted late last year for people ages 16 and up.
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Last week, Pfizer-BioNTech said its Phase 3 clinical trials showed its vaccine was safe and 100 percent effective in 12- to 15-year-olds, though the findings have not been peer-reviewed.
“The hope of starting to vaccinate this age group before the start of the next school year,” CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement when those results were released.
One-third of Americans have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, according to an NBC News database. In order to vaccinate the entire population, however, vaccines will have to be authorized for children.
Pfizer is also studying how well the vaccine works in children ages 6 months to 11 years old. The first doses in that trial were administered in March.
The move comes as Covid-19 infections among younger teens and kids are driving outbreaks in some states. In Michigan, for example, case rates for children ages 10 to 19 are at an all-time high, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
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