The US Food and Drug Administration is expected to make youths ages 12 to 15 eligible to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine booster in the coming days, according to a person familiar with the plan, per CNN.
Youths ages 12 to 15 have been eligible to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine since May.
Since July, about 4 million people in that age group have been fully vaccinated and would be immediately eligible for the booster.
The New York Times first reported on the timeline of youths ages 12 to 15 to become eligible, and also noted that the booster shot schedule will change from six months after the first two shots to five months. A booster for children ages 5 to 11 with immune deficiencies is also expected to be authorized.
16-year-olds and 17-year-olds were made eligible to receive their booster shot of the Pfizer vaccine on Dec. 9, as long as it had been six months after their initial two doses.
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Rochelle Walensky was asked about boosters for youths ages 12 to 15 and told CNN on Wednesday that the FDA "is looking at that right now. Of course the CDC will swiftly follow as soon as we hear from them and I'm hoping to have that in... the days to weeks ahead."
With the recent rise of cases throughout the country due to the omicron variant, health officials are still pushing for people to get their boosters.
There were 489,025 new cases in the United States on Dec. 29, with a seven-day average of 301,480 cases. Since Dec. 16, there have been 3,310,900 cases in the country.
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