AUSTIN (KXAN) — Pharmaceutical company Pfizer is now opening trials for its COVID-19 vaccine to young children.
The company said Wednesday it started dosing 5 to 11 year olds last week and plans to start the 2 to 5 year old group next week.
The announcement also came with news that trials show 100% efficacy among 12 to 15 year olds.
That includes Lucy Farrow. Every week, she logs into an app most kids may not be familiar with.
"[I] tell them if I've been experiencing any symptoms," she explained.
Farrow asked her mom to sign her up for the trial with Austin Regional Clinic in December.
"The more people who do it, the sooner they'll be able to approve it and the sooner things will be able to go back to normal," Farrow said.
She was excited when Pfizer announced the drug was effective for her age group.
It comes as Austin Public Health is seeing higher COVID-19 positivity rates among middle and high school students than the rest of the community.
"We are seeing the older ages' hospitalizations starting to decrease and the younger ages' start to increase," said Dr. Mark Escott, Austin-Travis County Interim Health Authority, during a briefing with Travis County Commissioners Court Tuesday.
"That has to do with a number of factors: We know that COVID-19 is transmitted via close contact, and people who are younger tend to have more face-to-face contact that older people do. Older people right now are more likely to be vaccinated than younger people due to prioritization," Escott explained.
APH says it is only a provider of the Moderna vaccine right now, but that may change as they try to reach more kids.
"As the vaccine trials go on, and Pfizer becomes the vaccine or one of the vaccines available for vaccinating school-aged children, APH would certainly leverage the partnerships we currently have with our school partners," said Cassandra DeLeon, APH Chief Administrative Officer, during another briefing Wednesday.
Farrow, who hasn't experienced any vaccine symptoms yet, is still waiting to find out if she actually got the vaccine or a placebo.
"Either way, I still think it's pretty cool," she said.
An attitude that's rubbed off on her little sister — the 9 year old is now on the waiting list for Pfizer's trial for kids.
Austin Regional Clinic says it doesn't know when it will start trials for younger children at the moment. Pfizer also didn't give KXAN a timeline.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration still needs to review Pfizer's study and approve its emergency use for people ages 12 to 15.
APH says it expects vaccines for older kids may get authorization by the summer.
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