THE FDA has authorized the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for kids ages 12 to 15 as millions of more shots are expected to become available.
The Food and Drug Administration announced Monday that the Pfizer-BioNTech jab was safe for children under the age of 16.
Acting FDA Commissioner Dr Janet Woodook called the move a “significant step in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.”
She said the authorization will bring the US “closer to returning to a sense of normalcy and ending the pandemic.”
Until Monday, the shots had only been approved for people ages 16 and up while the effects on children were still being studied.
A phase 3 clinical trial earlier this year showed that the vaccine was 100 percent effective at preventing illness in children ages 12 to 15.
Last week, President Joe Biden said his administration was “ready” to get about 20,000 pharmacy sites across the US prepped to begin vaccinating adolescents as soon as the FDA gave the OK.
Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, noted that “Having a vaccine authorized for a younger population is a critical step in continuing to lessen the immense public health burden caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.”
“With science guiding our evaluation and decision-making process, the FDA can assure the public and medical community that the available data meet our rigorous standards to support the emergency use of this vaccine in the adolescent population 12 years of age and older,” he added.
The jabs will be administered to kids the same way they are administered to the adult population, with two shots given three weeks apart.
The news comes as nearly 35 percent of the adult population in the US has been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
About 46 percent of the adult population has gotten at least on jab, according to the latest figures from the CDC.
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