The first booster shots for children aged 12-to-15 have been approved and CDC recommended on Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with the first shots going as early as Thursday morning. The FDA already approved the Pfizer boosters on Monday, the decision looked over by CDC when recommending the booster for kids.
The CDC Director Rochelle Walensky gave the Pfizer boosters a green signal mere hours after the FDA approved them. Her statement said, “It is critical that we protect our children and teens from COVID-19 infection and the complications of severe disease. Today, I endorsed ACIP’s vote to expand eligibility and strengthen our recommendations for booster doses. We now recommend that all adolescents aged 12-17 years should receive a booster shot 5 months after their primary series.”
She added, “This booster dose will provide optimized protection against COVID-19 and the Omicron variant. I encourage all parents to keep their children up to date with CDC’s COVID-19 vaccine recommendations.”
Dr. Amanda Cohn, senior adviser for vaccines at CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases said boosters can “reduce the potential for a child to be positive or to be infected” along with having “an immeasurable impact on the wellbeing of these kids.”
The press release by CDC stated, “Today, CDC is endorsing the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) recommendation to expand eligibility of booster doses to those 12 to 15 years old. CDC now recommends that adolescents age 12 to 17 years old should receive a booster shot 5 months after their initial Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination series.”
The regulatory body still largely emphasizes encouraging adolescents to get their first vaccine dose, as one-third of 12 to 17-year-olds are still unvaccinated.. We already know for a fact that children are getting affected by the Omicron variant of Covid in record numbers, this can largely be helped by getting the larger population vaccinated at first.
The Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is currently approved and rolling for all children between the age of 12-17. Regardless, those who are already vaccinated can increase their protection by getting their booster shots that also protect against the Omicron variant.
