The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved on Monday the emergency use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 booster vaccine for children ages 12 to 15, multiple outlets, including NBC News, confirmed.
Following approval for emergency use, an advisory panel from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Give your affirmative recommendation.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said days ago that she would approve the advisory panel’s decision immediately.
SOME FOUR MILLION CHILDREN WOULD BE ELIGIBLE FOR REINFORCEMENT
The decision also included approval of booster doses for children ages 5 to 11 with compromised systems.
Those over 16 years of age are already eligible to receive the Pfizer booster vaccine, six months after receiving the second dose.
The FDA’s decision comes amid the wave of COVID-19 infections, marked by the Omicron variant, much more contagious than the Delta variant but with somewhat milder symptoms.
Among minors, new infections reported a 50% increase in the week ended December 23, 2021, compared to the beginning of the month, with 199,000 infections.
An estimated four million children between the ages of 12 and 15 have received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine, making them eligible for the booster, according to CNN.
“The recent increase in COVID-19 cases is of concern to everyone and today’s decision by the FDA to further expand the emergency use of our booster vaccine is critical to helping us finally win against this pandemic.” said Pfizer CEO Albert Boula.
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