News 12's Elizabeth Hashagen was joined this morning by Dr. Daniel Griffin, the chief of the Division of Infectious Disease at ProHEALTH.

The approval of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for ages 12-15 was expected, but it is a momentous moment for our children and communities.

Pfizer vaccines for ages 12 to 15 could be administered as soon as Thursday, as long as all goes well at Wednesday's ACIP meeting, which is the next step in the vaccine rollout.

Pfizer announced in late March that its clinical trials showed the vaccine was safe and 100% effective in children ages 12 to 15, similar to the 95% efficacy among adult clinical trial participants.

After a trial with over 2,000 children, Pfizer found no cases of infection among the children who had been given the vaccine and 16 cases of infection among the children who received a placebo, Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said at the press briefing.

Adolescents experienced a similar range of side effects as seen in older teens and young adults, generally seen as cold-like symptoms in the two to three days after the second dose.

If kids ages 12 to 15 are fully vaccinated, when might they be able to take off masks?