Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Wednesday that the state will immediately begin administering Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to adolescents ages 12 to 15 years old.

His announcement came a few hours after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that they will now recommend the use of the vaccine for the age group.

"Children under the age of 18 now account for more than 20 percent of new cases in this country, and vaccine authorization for a younger population will allow the state to continue its tremendous progress towards winning the war against COVID,” said Gov. Cuomo in a statement.

After the CDC’s recommendation, Cuomo said state Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker and the New York State Clinical Advisory Task Force conducted a concurrent review.

The FDA expanded the Emergency Use Authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID vaccine for children in the age group on Monday. It was previously approved for use in individuals 16 years and older.

At this time, more than 17 million vaccine doses have been administered in the state, which accounts for about 60% of adult New Yorkers.