Pfizer’s COVID vaccine now approved for everyone 12 years old and up

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FDA approves Pfizer’s COVID vaccine for kids ages 12 to 15

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The US FDA on Monday approved the Pfizer vaccine for kids ages 12 to 15 — paving the way for teens to begin getting the shots as early as this week.

A CDC vaccine advisory committee will still need to green light the shot for youths in that age group, with an approval expected Wednesday.

“The FDA’s expansion of the emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to include adolescents 12 through 15 years of age is a significant step in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,” Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said in a statement.

“Parents and guardians can rest assured that the agency undertook a rigorous and thorough review of all available data.”

The FDA announced its intention to open up the vaccines to adolescents last week, to allow millions of younger Americans to be inoculated.

On Monday, the agency said in a release that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has met “the regulatory criteria” to be authorities for children as young as 12, saying that doing so “outweighs the known and potential risks.”

The agency said that, although children have milder symptoms than adults, there were about 1.5 million COVID-19 cases among 11- to 17-year-olds between March 1 last year and April 30 this year.

“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,” Peter Marks, head of the FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research said in a statement.

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