Pfizer’s Covid vaccine is 100% effective for 12-15 year olds

The laboratories Pfizer and BioNTech announced this Monday (22) that their vaccine against Covid-19 was 100% effective in young people aged 12 to 15 years, after four months of a phase three clinical trial (in which the results in volunteers who are compared are treated with the drug and in others who receive placebo).

The immunizing agent is authorized for this age group in Brazil, the USA and Europe.

According to the manufacturers, data from 2,228 trial participants identified no cases of Covid among those fully vaccinated, while there were 30 symptomatic cases of the disease in the placebo group.

Data will be submitted for scientific peer review for potential publication.

There were also no relevant side effects, according to the two companies. After six months of observation for safety, the reactions were “generally consistent with other clinical safety data for the vaccine,” the statement says.

Manufacturers intend to use the results to reinforce the request for emergency use of the product in this age group, made in May to the FDA (US regulatory agency). Earlier this month, the FDA also authorized emergency application for ages 5-11.

EMA (European regulator) and Anvisa (Brazilian agency) are evaluating applications for the age group from 5 to 11 years old.

Pfizer chairman Albert Bourla said the newly released results are important because “Covid rates are rising in this age group in some regions, while vaccine administration has declined.”

The vaccine’s effectiveness was high across all genders, races, ethnicities, body mass indexes and comorbidities, according to the companies. The 100% result has a 95% confidence interval.

The recommendation for children over five years of age is two doses of the vaccine, with an interval of three weeks. From the age of 12 years, a third dose can be given four weeks after the second, in individuals with compromised immunity.