The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it has expanded the emergency use authorisation for the use of the BioNTech/Pfizer coronavirus vaccination to include children and adolescents aged 12-15.
The vaccine by German vaccine maker BioNTech and its US partner Pfizer had previously only been approved in the country for people aged 16 and older.
Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock called the expansion “a significant step in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“Today’s action allows for a younger population to be protected from COVID-19, bringing us closer to returning to a sense of normalcy and to ending the pandemic,” Woodcock said in a statement.
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The commissioner said the agency had undertook a rigorous and thorough received of all available data before issuing the extension.
Since the beginning of the pandemic there have been 1.5 million cases in individuals to 11 to 17 years of age have been reported to the country’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
US president Joe Biden said that it is a promising development in the fight against the virus and if you are a parent who wants to protect your child, or a teenager who is interested in getting vaccinate. It is a step closer to a goal.
Source: dpa