Coronavirus: Pfizer shots for 12-15-year-olds subject to EMA approval

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for people aged 12 to 15 is expected to be used in Cyprus when and if approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the deputy director of pharmaceutical services at the ministry of health Elena Panagiotopoulou told the Cyprus News Agency on Thursday.

The specific vaccine is currently authorised for use in people aged 16 and over.

According to Panagiotopoulou, the vaccine is expected to be approved in June and once authorised could be used in Cyprus.

She explained that the EMA is conducting a rapid evaluation of the data on the extension of the vaccine before recommending it to European countries.

Around 2,500 children aged 12 to 15 were involved in the clinical trials.

Panagiotopoulou, however, said that each country will decide for itself whether to make the vaccine available.

“The EMA does not oblige countries to adopt its approvals,” she said.

According to the EMA, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for people aged 12 to 15, which has only been made available to the public in Canada so far, contains a molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA) with instructions to produce a protein, known as the spike protein, which is naturally present in SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.