750K PA Kids Could Soon Get COVID-19 Vaccine: Latest Timeline

PENNSYLVANIA — As the Pfizer vaccine received federal approval for use on children aged 12 to 15, the Pennsylvania Department of Health said that it is nearly ready to begin distributing the vaccine to that age group. It marks another turning point in the pandemic, as officials aim to inoculate students before returning to school next fall.

However, officials said they required a final level of approval before they starting administering doses: an official review and recommendation from the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

“We are thrilled that the FDA’s research has determined the Pfizer vaccine is safe and effective for individuals as young as 12,” Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam said in a statement Tuesday. “This means that approximately 750,000 more Pennsylvanians will be able to get vaccinated against COVID-19.”

The CDC committee is slated to meet this Wednesday, so the vaccine could be approved for 12 to 15-year-olds in Pennsylvania as soon as then.

RELATED: Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Expanded To U.S. Children 12 And Older

For quite some time now, the vaccination effort has focused on the nation's most vulnerable groups, until it was finally opened up to the general public last month. The general public, of course, has always meant anyone aged 16 and older.

And for weeks now, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Policy Lab has said it's time to vaccinate children, noting concern with some of the rhetoric against the position.

The Food and Drug Administration declared the Pfizer vaccine is safe and offers strong protection for younger teens based on testing of more than 2,000 U.S. volunteers ages 12 to 15, the Associated Press reports. The study found no cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated adolescents compared to 18 among kids given dummy shots. More intriguing, researchers found the kids developed higher levels of virus-fighting antibodies than earlier studies measured in young adults.

"We are increasingly concerned by some emerging commentary suggesting that there is less justification to vaccinate children than adults because the case fatality rate of COVID-19 is lower in children," the Lab shared in its latest COVID-19 outlook published Wednesday.

"This is a watershed moment in our ability to fight back the COVID-19 pandemic," Dr. Bill Gruber, a Pfizer senior vice president who's also a pediatrician, told the Associated Press.

COVID vaccinations for this age group will be no different than other vaccines, in that they will require consent of an adult.

“Once all of the approvals are in place Pennsylvania vaccine providers will be ready to begin vaccinating these young people to add them to the more than 5.7 million Pennsylvanians who have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine so far,” Beam added.

Officials noted that making vaccines available to this age group does not change the stated goal of vaccinating 70 percent of adults by the end of June.