This past month the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lowered the age that people can receive the Pfizer vaccine to 12 years old. Right now it’s the only vaccine available for those in the 12 to 15 age group.
The Moderna vaccine is still awaiting approval for emergency use authorization for the 12-17 age group by the Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Alice Sato with the division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital & Medical Center in Omaha says the Moderna vaccine is expected to work similarly to the Pfizer vaccine.
"We expect the formal review of the Moderna data for children ages 12 to 17 to be very similar in terms of safety and efficacy to what was seen with the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine," Dr. Sato said.
Dr. Sato said they are hoping to see an increase in the percentage of children who are vaccinated in the next month or two. Sato said with Moderna's approval, they would be able to get the vaccine to more people of all eligible age groups.