US youngsters can get jab

Washington – The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday authorised the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children aged 12 to 15 years old.

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

“If you are a parent who wants to protect your child, or a teenager who is interested in getting vaccinated, today’s decision is a step closer to that goal.”

The FDA previously granted an emergency use authorisation for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to individuals aged 16 and older.

“Having a vaccine authorised for a younger population is a critical step in continuing to lessen the immense public health burden caused by the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Centre for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

The FDA said some 1.5 million Covid-19 cases in individuals aged 11 to 17 years old have been reported to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention between 1 March, 2020 and 30 April, 2021.

The course of the disease is generally milder in children but they can pass it on to older, more vulnerable adults.

Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said in March their two-dose vaccine regimen was shown to be safe and highly effective in a trial of 2 260 12 to 15 year olds. –