Pfizer announced this week that its COVID-19 vaccine is safe for children as young as 5 years old.

The company has more than 2,000 children participating in clinical trials of the vaccine – some right in New Jersey.

One of the New Jersey participants in the study was 10-year-old Maya Huber, of Demarest. Huber received two shots as part of the study.

“Knowing as soon as the masks were gone and people got back to real life, the kids were going to be vulnerable. I have a lot of confidence in the scientific process, and I knew that the study Pfizer was conducting seemed appropriate,” says Huber’s mother Dr. Nisha Gandhi.

Gandhi says that her daughter wanted to be part of the study after seeing her parents and two older brothers get the vaccine.

“When she realized that her being part of the process was helping other people and other children – her friends – get the vaccine, she was even more for it,” Gandhi says. “She was thrilled to be a part of history in getting this vaccine and being part of the process.”

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Gandhi is an ICU doctor and says that she has seen more than her fair share of COVID-19-related deaths. With childhood cases of the virus on the rise, Gandhi and her husband fully supported their daughter’s decision. They call their daughter and other children involved in the study heroes.

Researchers also praise the children, like Dr. Simon Li, a pediatric critical care expert who supervised the Rutgers trial. That trial included 140 children from across New Jersey. About 15,000 children from the region applied.

“These children are brave and that’s what I say. You are doing an amazing job and they know it,” says Li. “The children are extraordinarily proud of themselves, which is amazing to see.”

It was not known if Maya received the vaccine or the placebo. Her parents will find out once Pfizer gets emergency use authorization. If she did not get the vaccine, she says that she will be first in line for the real thing.

The study will follow and check up on participants for at least the next two years.