The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has found the vaccine to be safe and effective in Pfizer's clinical trial. That trial included 2,260 participants in that age group, half of whom received the same vaccine dose given to adults. The other half got a placebo as a comparison group.

The safety profile for those 12 to 15 was found to be similar to 16 to 25-year-olds who have received the vaccine, the agency said. The most commonly reported side effects — all of which were short lived — were pain at the injection site, fatigue, headache, chills, muscle pain, fever and joint pain, the FDA said.

More than two million 16 and 17-year-olds in the United States have already received at least one dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

A teenager is inoculated with Pfizer's vaccine against Covid-19 at Dekalb Pediatric Centre in Decatur, Georgia, US, May 11. — Reuters
A teenager is inoculated with Pfizer's vaccine against Covid-19 at Dekalb Pediatric Centre in Decatur, Georgia, US, May 11. — Reuters

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