Moderna announced Thursday that it had requested authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for the use of its coronavirus vaccine on 12 to 17-year-olds.
The pharmaceutical company announced in May that its vaccine was 100% effective in teens after concluding its 3,700-person Phase III trial, and its authorization for the group would be a critical step to complete in-person schooling before the fall.
Moderna and Pfizer’s two-dose coronavirus vaccines were authorized for adults in December, and Pfizer’s shot was authorized for kids aged 12 to 15 last month.
“We are pleased to announce that we have submitted for an emergency use authorization for our COVID-19 vaccine with the FDA for use in adolescents in the United States,” Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said in a press release Thursday. “We are encouraged that the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine was highly effective at preventing COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 infection in adolescents.”
People get the first dose of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine in March in San Antonio, Texas.(Sergio Flores/Getty Images)
Since the vaccines were approved late last year, coronavirus cases have plummeted across the country. The U.S. is averaging fewer than 15,000 daily cases, down from over 200,000 in January, according to Johns Hopkins University data. (RELATED: Coronavirus Cases Are The Lowest They’ve Been Throughout The Entire Pandemic)
While 53% of Americans 18 and up have been fully vaccinated, that number drops to 42% when expanded to all Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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