US FDA to approve Pfizer among adolescents

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of U.S. is about to approve the use of two-dose Pfizer vaccine among children of 12-15 years of age, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

The rollout could begin as early as next week. More than 131 million shots of the Pfizer vaccine have been used to date in the U.S., and the extension to adolescents could assist with school re-opening later this year.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine — one of two mRNA vaccines (the other is from Moderna) that have Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) fin the U.S. for use in people 16 years and older — is likely to be cleared for EUA for adolescents as early as this week, as per reports, which were based on comments from FDA officials. The day after the FDA’s expected approval, the U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will likely meet to give the vaccine the go ahead for use in adolescents.

The FDA declined to put a timeline to the approval.

As per the Washington Post, Stephanie Caccomo, an FDA spokesperson said, “The FDA’s review of Pfizer’s request to amend its emergency use authorization (EUA) in order to expand the age range for its COVID-19 vaccine to include individuals 12-15 years of age is ongoing.”