The Food and Drug Administration on Monday cleared booster shots from Pfizer-BioNTech for Americans ages 12 to 15 and allowed people to get booster shots sooner, pointing to the omicron surge as the reason.
The FDA shortened the minimum interval between a primary vaccine series and a booster shot from six months to five months.
Regulators also cleared an extra dose for immunocompromised children ages 5 to 11 who may need a third shot to be adequately protected.
A booster for adolescents and teens may offer greater protection as schools grapple with the winter surge. Persons who received their initial Pfizer shots in the latter half of 2021 might be getting antsy as scientists point to boosters as a necessary bulwark against omicron.
“The omicron variant appears to be slightly more resistant to the antibody levels produced in response to the primary series doses from the current vaccines,” said Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. “With this in mind, the FDA has extended the range of individuals eligible to receive a booster, shortened the length of time between the completion of the Pfizer primary series for individuals to receive a booster and is authorizing a third protective vaccine dose for some of our youngest and most vulnerable individuals.”
The FDA relied heavily on safety data from Israel in examining the safety of boosters for ages 5-12 and shortening the interval between second and third shots for any Pfizer recipient.
The Middle Eastern country got an early jump on the use of the Pfizer shots and has been carefully collecting data through its centralized health system.
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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