FDA Expected to Authorize COVID Booster Shots for 12- to 15-Year-Olds

Sources within the FDA claim that the Food and Drug Administration will soon authorize booster shots for children between 12 and 15 years old, beginning next week.

Pfizer/BioNTech boosters for young teens were supposed to be authorized this weekHowever, the FDA had holiday-related scheduling conflicts that delayed the authorization.

The FDA will share data that led to the approval of booster shots with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) if the FDA approves them. Boosters are available for children aged 12-15 years within days of Rochelle Walensky’s final authorization.

Walensky has indicated that if the CDC agrees with the FDA’s findings, she will authorize the boosters immediately.

“The CDC will swiftly follow [the FDA] as soon as we hear from them, and I’m hoping to have that…in the days to weeks ahead,” she said on Wednesday.

The federal government has already authorized vaccine boosters to be given to older teens. Parents worry that teens between 12 and 15 years old are still at high risk, especially given the spread of Omicron variant. It is more transmissible than other variants, even among people who have been vaccinated.

Data from South Africa, the United Kingdom have demonstrated the efficacy of booster shots. According to a report from South Africa, people who are vaccinated but who haven’t received their booster shot are only 33 percent protected against Omicron; getting a booster shot bumps vaccine efficacy up to 75 percent.

In the last few weeks, the hospitalization rate of children has increased significantly. A daily average of 334 coronavirus-infected children under 17 years old were admitted into hospitals between December 21 and 27. a 58 percent increase compared to the week before.

The effects of COVID-19 are generally less severe for children than for adults, but that doesn’t mean children who contract the virus aren’t at risk. More than 800 children in the U.S have died of coronavirusSince the outbreak of the pandemic, the long-term effects on children by COVID have not been established.

“Although we know that children are vulnerable to COVID-19, we still do not have a clear picture of how COVID-19 affects them in the long term,” Anthony FauciIn November, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ head, Dr. Xavier Y., stated that.

“Our investigations into the pediatric population will deepen our understanding of the public health impact that the pandemic has had and will continue to have in the months and years to come,” he added.