Pfizer will start testing its coronavirus vaccine on children as young as 12

Pfizer is setting plans to make its coronavirus vaccine available to more groups of people, should the pharma company prove that the shot works to prevent the virus.

On Monday, the company said on its website that it got approval from regulators to expand a trial of the shot to include children as young as 12, becoming the first major drugmaker to open a coronavirus vaccine trial to kids. A Pfizer spokesperson said it also got permission to expand the study to include as many as 48,400 volunteers, 10% larger than the previous cap.

The New York-based firm expanded the trial in September to include 16- and 17-year-olds, as well as people with hepatitis C, hepatitis B, or HIV.

Pfizer is a frontrunner in developing a coronavirus vaccine. It started the final stage of trials in July and has said it expects to know whether the shot works by the end of this month.

So far, vaccine research has predominantly focused on adults. That means kids probably won’t be able to get a coronavirus vaccine at first.