U.S. FDA authorizes Pfizer COVID-19 booster for children ages 5 to 11

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LOS ANGELES, May 17 (Xinhua) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday granted emergency use authorization for a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children 5 via 11 years of age at the very least 5 months after completion of the first vaccine sequence.

On Jan. 3, the FDA approved the usage of a single booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for people 12 via 15 years of age after completion of major vaccination.

The FDA’s choice on Tuesday means anybody ages 5 and older is now eligible for at the very least one booster dose.

“While it has largely been the case that COVID-19 tends to be much less extreme in children than adults, the Omicron wave has seen extra children getting sick with the illness and being hospitalized, and children may expertise long run results, even following initially delicate illness,” mentioned FDA Commissioner Robert Califf in a press release.

“The FDA is authorizing the usage of a single booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children 5 via 11 years of age to present continued safety in opposition to COVID-19,” he mentioned.



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