US FDA Authorizes Pfizer COVID-19 Booster Vaccine for Children Ages 12-15

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Food and Drug Administration ( FDA) of the United States authorized this Monday the use of a third dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 from Pfizer and BioNTech for children between 12 and 15 years old and reduced the time of all Five-month booster shots from six months after the end of the initial vaccination program.

The agency also authorized a third doses in children 5 to 11 years who are immunosuppressed.

The FDA said it reviewed published data and evidence in the real world on the safety of booster doses provided by the Israeli Ministry of Health, including data from more than 6,300 12-15 year olds who received a vaccine from Pfizer.

The cases of COVID-19 in the world are increasing due to the omicron variant and health authorities have warned Since its extremely high transmissibility could overwhelm many health systems.

Laboratory tests have shown that two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech and Modern generate a low immune response against omicron, while booster doses appear to be protective against the new variant.

(Report from Ankur Banerjee and Manas Mishra in Bangalore; edited in Spanish by Benjamín Mejías Valencia).