ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Pfizer and BioNTech say their COVID-19 vaccines are safe for kids ages 5 to 11 after recent clinical trials. 

Many families with young children, like the Grimmers in Orange County, have been waiting for an announcement like this because it will mean they can start doing things they loved as a family again. 

For a while now, sisters Jordan and Rory Grimmer have had to do most of their activities at home or in their neighborhood. 

But that could soon change for 5-year-old Jordan. 

“I'm excited to, um, go to birthday parties and go to Disney World,” she said. 

That’s because she could soon be eligible for the Pfizer vaccine. 

Before the pandemic, the Grimmers loved to take trips to Disney World together. 

“It would be a huge sigh of relief,” said Jordan and Rory's mother, Heather. 

“Even though Heather and I have been vaccinated for a long time, we haven’t been comfortable taking our kids into a lot of situations where they might be exposed,” said their father, Eric. 

But now Pfizer and BioNTech say their vaccine is safe and provides protection for children 5 to 11. The Food and Drug Administration still must approve the vaccine for emergency use in children in that age group before it could be administered. 

The companies tested a much lower dose in children – a third of what is given to adults, administered 21 days apart – but Pfizer said that the vaccine generates antibody levels just as strong as in teenagers and young adults after the second dose.

But results for little Rory’s age group aren’t expected until later in the year. 

And mom and dad can’t wait. 

“Hopefully it’s the last step in a full return to normalcy,” Eric Grimmer said. 

Pfizer and Moderna are said to be studying the vaccine's effects in younger kids as well, as young as six months. 

But those results aren't expected until later in the year.