US approves shots for 12-15 age group

WASHINGTON: US regulators have given emergency use authorisation to Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine for children aged between 12 and 15, making it the first for this age group in the country, as the Biden administration plans to expand the vaccination drive.

The vaccine, which is already being administrated to those above 16, will be given as primer and booster shots. Janet Woodcock, acting head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), called the emergency use authorisation a “significant step” in the fight against the epidemic.

“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,” she said. “This is a promising development in our fight against the virus,” President Joe Biden said. To be sure, the move has attracted criticism for vaccine inequity, with many questioning the natural justice of vaccinating low-risk young people in a rich country when billions of people in poor countries are yet to be vaccinated. On May 5, Canada became the first country in the world to approve Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine for ages as young as 12. HT reported last week that experts in India have pointed to the importance of planning for the vaccination of those below 18 as there cannot be a proper opening up until the entire population is protected.