MORRISTOWN, Tenn. — Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine may be offered to younger teens in the coming weeks, after going through several trials. They showed a 100 percent efficacy rate for 12 through 15-year-olds vaccinated with the two-dose vaccine.
Right now, it's only authorized for those 16 and older.
A 13-year-old from Morristown is one of more than 2,200 children participating in the trial.
"I wanted to do it so I could help get research for kids for the vaccine," said Emma Stibler, who is making history.
The Morristown teen said she's known for a long time she wanted to help make vaccines more readily available in any way possible.
"It's amazing, it makes me feel like I can contribute to society and help out with something that's really important," she said.
Stibler was committed. She drove with her family four hours to Kentucky and four hours back home multiple times to participate in the trial.
She got her first dose in January, and then her second dose three weeks later.
"It was similar to a flu shot, but not exactly," she said. "It was sore, but I was also really tired and had a small fever."
She still has yet to find out if it was the real vaccine or a placebo.
Dr. Bill Smith said the promising results from vaccinated teens in the study could lead to the same results in children who are even younger.
"The fact that there was really no significant difference between adolescents and adults makes it very likely there will be no significant difference between children and adults," said Smith.
He says it's important to note that 18 cases of COVID-19 were reported in those who got the placebo during the trial. However, no cases were reported in the vaccinated group.
"There's still a lot of questions to be answered but the good news is that we've got four vaccines that work and that we're going to be able to vaccinate a lot of people over the next few months," he said.
For Stibler, she's excited to be paving the way for other teens. She also said that she's ready to return to a normal life.
Smith said another teen trial will be starting in the next few weeks with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and in a few months, he will begin trials testing the effectiveness of combined vaccines among adults.