Covid-19: Pfizer "safe and effective" vaccine approved for 12 to 15 year olds

The UK's medicine regulator has approved the use of the Pfizer vaccine for 12 to 15 year-olds.

It says the vaccine is "safe and effective" and that "benefits far outweigh any risk".

The MRHA is a group of medical professionals that are part of the Department of Health and Social Care, who decide which medicine is safe for people to use in the UK.

It has not yet been decided whether to give children the vaccine yet. That decision will be made by the UK's vaccines committee.

More than half of all the adults in the UK have now had both doses of a coronavirus vaccine.

What is the Pfizer vaccine?

The Pfizer vaccine has been made by Pfizer and their partner - BioNtech. They are companies in the US that create medicines.

The Pfizer vaccine offers up to 95% protection against Covid-19, and is given in two injections.

Pfizer is a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine, which means it uses the genetic code - the information that makes up the virus - to help teach our body's cells how to create the right antibodies to protect us.

It's not unusual for vaccines to make people feel a bit unwell for a few hours after being jabbed, because they spark the body's immune system into action.

It means the body can react as if it's under attack and will be better prepared if it comes into contact with real disease.

The UK was one of the first countries in the world to approve the new coronavirus vaccine for widespread use in December last year.

How do they know it is safe?

Vaccines are incredibly safe, but the risk or benefit of giving them to children has to be very carefully considered.

Before it was approved, the vaccine was tested on 43,500 people in six countries, and no safety concerns were raised.

Here in the UK, the vaccine went through lots of testing, including a medical trial on a group of young volunteers.

"Over 2000 children aged 12-15 years were studied as part of the randomised, placebo-controlled clinical trials. There were no cases of Covid-19 from seven days after the second dose in the vaccinated group, compared with 16 cases in the placebo group." said Professor Sir Munir Pirmohamed, chair of the Commission on Human Medicines.

"In addition, data on neutralising antibodies showed the vaccine working at the same level as seen in adults aged 16-25 years. These are extremely positive results." said Professor Sir Munir Pirmohamed.

There are some risks in taking any vaccine but serious side effects are very rare. However, an Oxford University trial on children aged six to 17 receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine was paused because of concerns it was making some younger adults very unwell.

The AstraZeneca injection is now only available for adults over 40.

When will people get the vaccine?

The US and Germany have approved vaccines for children aged between 12 and 15

There is no official date yet. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) will now decide whether children in the UK should get the jab.

Some countries around the world have already approved vaccinating children.

The European Medicines Agency has approved the Pfizer coronavirus jab for 12 to 15-year-olds living in EU countries.

The United States and Canada have both already authorised the vaccine for children of the same age.