MADISON, Wis. — The Food and Drug Administration authorized Pfizer’s COVID-19 booster vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds on Monday.
Kids who received the Johnson & Johnson or Moderna primary vaccine dose may get the Pfizer booster. The agency also reduced the amount of time people should wait between receiving a second vaccine dose and booster from six months down to five.
Local health experts said that this latest booster approval came at a good time, with cases among children rising and more people gathering indoors.
“The risk for spread is higher, especially not only with being indoors, but especially with Omicron, which is found to be far more contagious the the previous variants, so this is the right time to get the booster shot,” said SSM Health’s Vice President of Pharmacy Services Mo Kharbat.
While COVID-19 deaths are down since last week, hospitalizations are way up. The Department of Health and Human Services reported upwards of 100,000 people hospitalized with the virus, with child hospitalizations the highest they have ever been.
According to the CDC, more than 500 children were admitted each day over the weekend ending on Dec. 31.
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