Korean experts advise Pfizer vaccine for 16 and older

The first of the three-part evaluation of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine here has shown the vaccine to be 95 percent effective and eligible for use on those aged 16 and older, South Korea’s Drug Ministry announced Tuesday.

The panel of seven, comprising virologists, medical professionals and statistics experts, confirmed that all 36,523 candidates given two shots of the Pfizer vaccine in clinical trials experienced quadrupled antibodies in their system.

The panel assessed that the trials were designed to test -- and had proven -- the safety and efficacy of the vaccine in candidates aged 16 and over.

Considering teenagers aged 16 and 17 would have immune responses not unlike those of adults, and multiple approvals bodies including in the US, EU, UK, Japan and more have cleared the Pfizer shots for those over 16, the panel decided the vaccine is fit for those 16 and older in Korea, too.

The Drug Ministry is to announce the second leg of the Pfizer vaccine review Friday.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)