The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the use of a third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech for children ages 12-15 and reduced the time for all booster shots to 5 months from 6 months after the end of the initial vaccination program.
The agency also authorized a third dose in children ages 5 to 11 who are immunosuppressed.
The FDA said it reviewed published data and real-world evidence on the safety of the booster dose provided by the Israeli Ministry of Health, including data on more than 6,300 people 12-15 years of age 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 that its extremely high transmissibility could overwhelm many health systems.
Laboratory tests have shown that two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines elicit a low immune response against Omicron, while the booster doses appear to be protective against the new variant.
