Pfizer vaccine authorized for ages 12-15 Children ages 12-15 years old can now be vaccinated after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration amended the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine’s emergency use authorization. Vaccinations of youths could begin this week, officials said Monday, May 10. In a recent study, researchers determined the Pfizer vaccine is 100 percent effective in protecting this age group against the disease. The authorization “is a significant step in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Jane Woodcock, acting FDA commissioner. “Today’s action allows for a younger population to be protected from COVID-19, bringing us closer to returning to a sense of normalcy and to ending the pandemic,” she said during a Monday news conference. “Parents and guardians can rest assured that the agency undertook a rigorous and thorough review of all available data, as we have with all our COVID-19 vaccine emergency use authorizations.”