Pfizer says its COVID vaccine is safe for kids 5 to 11

(NATIONAL) Pfizer and its partner BioNtech announced Monday that their COVID-19 is safe for kids between the ages of 5 and 11. 

This news announced in a press release comes after a study was done using 2,268 children between the ages of 5 and 11. 

The children were given two doses of the vaccine, each was smaller than the doses given to people age 12 and older.

The children in the study received the doses 21 days apart. 

Even with the smaller doses, Pfizer and BioNtech say the vaccine still demonstrated promising results. 

"The safety profile and immunogenicity data in children aged 5 to 11 years vaccinated at a lower dose are consistent with those we have observed with our vaccine in other older populations at a higher dose," said Dr. Ugur Sahin, the CEO and co-founder of BioNTech. 

Albert Bourla, the Chairman and Chief Executive Office for Pfizer said in the release that U.S. pediatric COVID cases have increased by about 240 percent since July. 

Pfizer now plans to file a request with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to get Emergency Use Authorization to allow the vaccine to be administered to kids between 5 and 11. 

"Over the past nine months, hundreds of millions of people ages 12 and older from around the world have received our COVID-19 vaccine," said Bourla. "We are eager to extend the protection afforded by the vaccine to this younger population, subject to regulatory authorization, especially as we track the spread of the Delta variant and the substantial threat it poses to children."

The two companies say they also expect to have results about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine for children younger than 5 by the end of this year.