Pfizer says its COVID-19 vaccine found 100% effective on children aged 12-15

The absolute efficacy of the vaccine was recorded in the third phase of clinical trials on the minor volunteers.

Moneycontrol News

March 31, 2021 / 05:33 PM IST

Representative image: Reuters

US-based pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc said on March 31 that its vaccine against coronavirus was found to be 100 percent effective on children aged between 12 and 15.

The absolute efficacy of the vaccine was recorded in the third phase of clinical trials on the minors, the company said in a statement.

Pfizer, along with the vaccine's co-developer - Germany's BioNTech - would apply for the regulatory clearance before the American and European health regulators.

The full set of trial data would be submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency "at the earliest", Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said.

“We share the urgency to expand the authorization of our vaccine to use in younger populations and are encouraged by the clinical trial data from adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15,” the press release quoted Bourla as saying.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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