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Study says Pfizer vaccine 100% effective in ages 12-15; Indy doc weighs in

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — People ages 16 and 17 are only eligible to receive the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine; however, that could soon change.

Pfizer released results from its first study testing the vaccine in children from ages 12-15. According to the pharmaceutical company, the study showed the vaccine was 100% effective in a sample of over 2,200 children.

But, some parents may be concerned the trial results were released too quickly and believe caution should be taken before they rush to get their kids vaccinated.

News 8 spoke with Dr. Christopher Doehring, vice president of medical affairs at Franciscan Health, to gauge his thoughts about these concerns.

“They designed these trials to have sufficient power to be able to draw these conclusions,” he said. “So, the fact that they are seeing zero cases of COVID in a rather significant number of these teenagers (in the trial) is very very encouraging.”

Doehring also said these studies were not built from scratch. Rather, they were built upon a year’s worth of research in adults. This, he said, should give parents and caregivers further reassurance the vaccine is safe.