The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of USA authorized this Thursday the booster dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for young people aged 16 and 17, this authorization comes after the US has urged all adults to get a booster dose before the new variant of Covid-19, called omicron.
In a statement, the FDA announced that it had decided to give an emergency authorization so that children under 16 and 17 years of age can take that dose six months after receiving the second injection of Pfizer serum.
“Get vaccinated and get one booster dose when one can do it, along with other preventive measures, such as putting on masks and avoiding large crowds and poorly ventilated spaces, remain the most effective methods to combat Covid-19, “the acting commissioner of the FDA, Janet Woodcock.
Booster dose would help activate the immune system against omicron
On Wednesday, the results of some Pfizer and BioNTech studies showing that booster doses could help activate the immune system against omicron, first detected in South Africa.
FDA clearance, however, does not mean that 16 and 17 year olds can immediately receive the booster dose. The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, in English), Rochelle Walensky, must review that decision and give its approval.
So far, about 200 million people have been fully vaccinated in USA, that is, they have received either the two doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, or an injection of the Johnson & Johnson preparation, which represents 60.4% of the country’s population, according to CDC.
According to these data, 48.8 million (24.4% of the population) have been administered a booster dose. The United States is the country hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic with almost 800 thousand deaths and 45.5 million infections since March 2020, indicates the count of the Johns Hopkins University.
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