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On Wednesday, Pfizer and its German affiliate, BioNTech unveiled a study they claim proves the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective for children, as young as 12 years old. As of now, Pfizer’s vaccine is the only one approved for age 16 and up.

The release of these study results is the biopharmaceutical giant's first step to requesting emergency approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European regulators to allow vaccination of kids 12 years old and up.

This is good news for some parents who will feel safer if their children are vaccinated. Pfizer seems on-track to get the approval before the kids head back to in-person school this Fall.

After months of a disrupted educational system, US parents are hoping their children will be able to return to normal life.

The majority of people getting the approved COVID-19 vaccine are adults. The process started with getting shots to those most at-risk. In the US children only makeup approximately 13% of documented  COVID cases. The pediatric research studies are measuring whether the vaccines work as well on children as they do on adults. 

Initially, studies tested tens of thousands of adults, worldwide for vaccine efficacy. To date, medical professionals administered millions of COVID-19 vaccinations to adults. Researchers are now able to use a much smaller sample group for pediatric studies.

 Many scientists insist vaccinating all ages may be the only way to stop the pandemic.

Children are less at-risk of contracting COVID-19 and they are also less likely than adults to have a severe case. Nevertheless, over the last year,  268 children have died from COVID-19 in the U.S. And the American Academy of Pediatrics says around 13,500 kids have been hospitalized, at some point, with COVID.

Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine Study includes kids age 12-15

Pfizer reported their vaccine study included 2,260 U.S. children, ages 12 to 15. Each child volunteered. The preliminary data shows a 100% success rate. No reported cases of COVID-19 appeared in the group of fully vaccinated kids. Researchers confirmed 18 cases of COVID in the adolescents' given placebo shots.

Pfizer did not publish the small sample study yet. 12-and-older participants received the same dose as adults. And Pfizer has on-going testing of different doses in younger children.

Besides the dosage amount, doctors are anxious to see evidence the shots are boosting up the test kids’ immune systems. And it has been suggested higher levels of virus-fighting antibodies are present in younger children after vaccination.