US allows Pfizer vaccine for people aged 12 to 15

WASHINGTON: The US drug regulator authorised the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children aged 12 to 15 as the country aims to speed up its Covid-19 recovery, while the huge outbreak in India persisted with virus deaths approaching 250,000 yesterday.

With some wealthy nations easing restrictions thanks to rapid inoculation drives and many others struggling to secure doses, the World Health Organisation slammed “vaccine diplomacy” and called for cooperation without strings attached.

Among those under pressure to do more for poorer countries is the

US, where more than 115 million people have been fully vaccinated and authorities have started to ease curbs to help with the recovery of the world’s biggest economy.

Those efforts got another boost on Monday when the US Food and Drug Administration authorised the Pfizer shot for 12 to 15-year-olds.

“This is a promising development in our fight against the virus,” said President Joe Biden.

The US Centres for Disease Control said its advisory committee will now meet to discuss a recommendation for this age group.

The move has been criticised, however, by some public health experts who say these doses would be better used in other countries where highly vulnerable people are still waiting for vaccines, instead of a low-risk group in the United States.

The European Medicines Agency said on Monday that the European Union could also soon approve the Pfizer-BioNTech jab for the 12 to 15 age group as early as this month as several nations on the continent aim to revive their economies.

Ireland on Monday lifted domestic travel restrictions and Greece opened nursery, elementary and middle schools ahead of kicking off the tourism season from May 14.

The coronavirus surge appeared to be easing in major cities in India.

But reports from rural areas suggested the virus is rampaging through India’s vast hinterland, home to about two-thirds of its 1.3 billion people where access to healthcare is limited.

As many as 45 bodies have washed up on the banks of the Ganges River near the border between Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Locals suggested that people were putting the bodies of relatives who had died of Covid-19 into the river because they could not afford wood for funeral pyres or because crematoriums were overwhelmed. – AFP