On Monday, May 10, the FDA gave the green light for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to be used for 12 to 15-year-olds, pushing the U.S. one more step forward on the path of the return to normalcy.

“This is great news…It feels like we’ve been waiting a long time to start protecting children in this age group,” said Dr. Kristin Oliver, a pediatrician at Mount Sinai Hospital.

With anyone ages 12 and older now eligible for the vaccine, those in the younger age group can start to be protected from COVID-19, and contribute to herd immunity as well. Since children make up 23 percent of the population, getting them vaccinated will be essential to reaching population levels of immunity. According to Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency room physician, and professor at Brown University, vaccinating children helps shield others in the community who cannot receive the vaccine, such as those who are immunocompromised.

“The approval of the Pfizer vaccine for 12–15-year-old children is a step forward to achieve herd immunity in the fight against the virus. It would ensure safety for these children as they resume school and extracurricular activities,” said Dr. Shital Parikh, a physician at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

Speaking of resuming school and extracurricular activities, expanding the range of ages eligible for the vaccine increases the chances of schools reopening normally for in-person classes in the fall. And this shift back to the classroom cannot come soon enough; as students need to be at school not only for academic purposes but also for social reasons.

“The anxiety and depression that we’re seeing with kids, the social delays, has been tremendous,” said Dr. Amanda Dropic, a pediatrician in northern Kentucky.

Fortunately, not only has the FDA approved the vaccine, but the results of the Pfizer trials are very promising. At the end of March, Pfizer announced that in trial participants aged 12–15-years-old, the vaccine demonstrated 100% efficacy, an even higher percentage than that demonstrated in the 16–25-year-old participants.

In terms of safety, Dr. Ranney believes that “the risk of [children] getting sick or hospitalized or worse with Covid or with the post-Covid multi-inflammatory syndrome is higher than the risk of something bad from this vaccine.”

While doctors and parents are excited about the recent approval, adolescents in the new age group are equally as grateful to be eligible for the vaccine. Emma Leong, a sixth-grade student at E.H. Greene Intermediate School, now eligible for the vaccine, wants others to understand the importance of getting vaccinated and the seriousness of the pandemic.

“As someone who has a friend that got sick and had to stay home for days, I can see how troublesome this virus is for everyone. For more people to dislike the idea of getting a vaccine, it makes me wonder if they even know that they could possibly die from it too,” Leong said.

Sophomore Kendra McPherson shared Leong’s view in understanding how serious of an impact COVID-19 can have on people and did not hesitate to get her vaccine as soon as her age group was eligible.

“It is exciting to be on my way to being fully vaccinated! I am the youngest person in my family so lots of our summer plans revolved around when I would be fully vaccinated, so it is a relief to get my shot sooner than expected. As people continue to get vaccinated it will be nice to see a little bit of a return to normalcy,” McPherson said.

While it is encouraging to see such a quick progression with younger age groups becoming eligible for the vaccine, it is important to remember that the pandemic is not over yet. Please continue to wear a mask in public and follow all guidelines set by the CDC and the Ohio Department of Health and with your help, we can continue to take baby steps towards a return to normalcy.

Sources: The New York Times, NBC News