Pfizer's newly released data on teen vaccinations this week showed 100% real efficacy for clinical trial participants aged 12 to 15 years old with or without prior evidence of COVID-19 infection. Dr. Dean Blumberg, a pediatric infectious disease expert from UC Davis Health, joined KCRA 3 to talk about the findings. Q: Do you agree with those findings? Dr. Blumberg: Yeah. As you mentioned, it's 2,200 children were in the studies, 12 to 15-year-olds, and there were no cases in the vaccine group and there were 18 cases in the placebo group. So it was 100% effective. Of course, with larger numbers, we would expect some vaccine breakthroughs. Q: We haven't seen the same efficacy in adults. Why is this vexing more effective in children than adults? Dr. Blumberg: What we are seeing in the children is that their immune response is better than in the comparative group, which was 16 to 25-year-olds. Because they are younger, their immune systems are more robust and they have better immune responses. We've seen this similarly with other vaccines. For example, with the HPV vaccine, the younger kids seem to have a better immune response compared to older individuals. Q: So talking about that immune response, of course, there are the side effects with that as your body is gearing up to handle something that's foreign. Are the side effects for kids in this age range different or the same as the adults? Dr. Blumberg: In this study, the side effects were comparable in the children 12 to 15, compared to 16 to 25-year-olds. They did have the usual things, fever, fatigue, sore arm following immunization. Q: You mentioned these children have a better immune response. Do they still need two doses of the Pfizer vaccine? Dr. Blumberg: We're not sure. We don’t have an immunologic correlate of protection. We don’t have a blood test that says if you’re over a certain level of antibody that you are protected. So we really just don’t know that. The company studied it in a two-dose series so that’s what we will be recommending once it’s approved by the FDA. Q: Put this in perspective compared to other studies that are larger and that are actually published. We’re talking 2,200, and that sounds like a lot. Dr. Blumberg: So the phase three studies that led to the emergency youth authorization of this vaccine, as well as the Moderna and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, those had 30,000 to 40,000 study suspects, so it is still a small study relatively. Q: Are there some children you would recommend in this age group where parents should really get this vaccine for them? Dr. Blumberg: Sure. Any kid who has a chronic underlying condition like heart disease, lung disease, obesity. We know those are all risk factors for more severe disease if they get it. Other children, who have autoimmune diseases or weakened immune systems, those are the ones that I would prioritize and really push to get vaccinated. Q: What about side effects in young adults and teens? Is there something long-term that people should be worrying about when it comes to this age group? Anything that could be seen later on? Dr. Blumberg: We haven't seen anything. With other vaccines, we haven't seen any long-term side effects. I would worry about the short-term things that we are all familiar with, the local reactions, the pain and soreness at the injection site, feeling down with low energy for a day or two, and fever in the immediate post-vaccination period. Q: When do you think this will be available and do you think it should be mandatory?Dr. Blumberg: The company says that they will submit to the FDA soon, I assume that means within a few weeks. And then usually it takes another month or two for the FDA to evaluate it and approve it. I'm thinking that it might be available in summer sometime or maybe at least by the fall. I would expect it to be approved for use in this age group. I do not expect this vaccine to be mandatory for children. It shouldn't be mandatory for school. Not while it’s under emergency use authorization. I think it would need the full FDA approval before we even consider such a step.