The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated on Wednesday (5) its recommendation for the booster dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19, including adolescents aged 12 and older, at least five months after completing the primary vaccination schedule.
On Monday (3), the Food and Drug Administration (a body similar to Anvisa) expanded the emergency use authorization for additional doses of Pfizer’s immunizing agent for this age group.
“It’s critical to protect our children and teens from Covid-19 infection and the complications of serious illness,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a press release.
“We now recommend that all adolescents 12 to 17 years old receive a booster dose 5 months after the primary series. This dose will provide optimized protection against Covid-19 and the Omicron variant. I encourage all parents to keep their children up to date with CDC recommendations.”
The recommendation came after members reviewed research into rare cases of myocarditis and pericarditis in young people who received the vaccine and noted that many parents are concerned about the long-term side effects of vaccines.
They also considered that the application of the immunizing agent between 12 and 17 years of age had recently decreased, which influenced the record number of cases of Covid-19 among children amidst the spread of the Omicron variant.
The CDC approved on Tuesday (4) the reduction of the booster interval from six to five months for people who received the Pfizer vaccine. Pfizer’s booster dose contains the same amount as the starting doses: 30 micrograms.
Teens ages 12 to 15 became eligible to receive their initial series of the drugmaker’s immunizer in mid-May, opening up vaccination to an estimated 17 million people.
Now, about half of the 12 to 15 population – about 8.7 million – is fully vaccinated, according to CDC data. About 5 million were fully vaccinated over five months ago and are now eligible for the booster.
Overall, about 71.6 million people in the US are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 with the booster dose. That’s less than half of the nearly 180 million people who are eligible to receive the additional dose and about a fifth of the total US population.
This content was originally created in English.
original version
Reference: CNN Brasil
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