The European Medicines Agency on Friday recommended that the use of the coronavirus vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech be expanded to children ages 12 to 15, a decision that offers younger and less at-risk populations across the continent access to a COVID-19 shot for the first time
The Pfizer-BioNtech shot was the first one approved in the 27-nation bloc for anyone over 16, and has been administered to a total of 173 million people.
“Extending the protection of a safe and effective vaccine in this younger population is an important step forward in the fight against this pandemic,” said Marco Cavaleri, who heads the EMA body that reviewed the vaccine.
The shot has shown to have the same mild common side effects in younger teens as adults.
The EMA decision needs to be rubber-stamped by the European Commission, and individual national regulators must decide whether the vaccine will be administered to children under 16.
Most COVID-19 vaccines worldwide have been authorized for adults, who are at higher risk of severe disease and death from the coronavirus. However, vaccinating children of all ages may be crucial to stopping outbreaks, since research has shown older children may play a role in spreading the virus even though they don’t typically fall seriously ill.
