The Pfizer Covid vaccine is 100% effective in young people aged 12-15, new research suggests.

The company behind the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine no plans to seek approval from around the world to use the vaccine in this age group with hopes children could start receiving their first jab before the start of the next school year.

The trial included 2,260 young people aged between 12 and 15 in the US.

Half were given the jab and the other half were given a placebo drug.

There were no Covid-19 cases seen in the group who received the vaccine and 18 infections among those who did not.

Albert Bourla, chief executive of Pfizer, said: “We share the urgency to expand the authorisation 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.

“We plan to submit these data to FDA (the US Food and Drug Administration) as a proposed amendment to our emergency use authorisation in the coming weeks and to other regulators around the world, with the hope of starting to vaccinate this age group before the start of the next school year.”

Pfizer’s vaccine is already authorised for use in people aged 16 or over, but the new research could see the jab used in school-aged children.

The companies responsible for the vaccine said in a statement that the new study shows 100|% efficiency in preventing coronavirus, with results yet to be published.

Mild to moderate symptoms were flagged including injection-site pain, headaches, fever and fatigue, symptoms were more prevalent after the second dose.


The study will continue to follow participants of the trial for two years to gather information for long-term protection and safety.