The United Kingdom on Friday, 4 June, approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for adolescents between the ages of 12 to 15.
The approval from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), Britain’s medicines regulator, came after similar clearances in the European Union and the United States.
“We have carefully reviewed clinical trial data in children aged 12 to 15 years and have concluded that the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective in this age group and that the benefits of this vaccine outweigh any risk,” the chief executive of the MHRA June Raine said in a statement.
“No extension to an authorisation would be approved unless the expected standards of safety, quality and effectiveness have been met,” Raine added.
The regulator said it was now up to to the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to decide whether to move forward and vaccinate this age group.
Children aged 12-15 are already being vaccinated with the Pfizer jab in the US and several other countries are planning on rolling out the vaccine soon for children.
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