According to a CNN report, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is gearing up to broaden the eligibility for Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine booster shots in the coming days.

As it stands, people aged 16 years and above are eligible to receive Pfizer’s booster six months after the completion of the two-dose vaccine regime. While youths between the ages of 12 and 15 years are eligible for Pfizer’s two-dose vaccine, booster shots for this age group has not yet been authorised.

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If the FDA goes ahead with its reported plan to broaden the eligibility for booster shots, as many as 4 million children in the US between the ages of 12 and 15 years would become eligible for it.

Commenting on booster shot eligibility, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr Rochelle Walensky said on Wednesday that the FDA “is looking at that right now. Of course the CDC will swiftly follow as soon as we hear from them and I’m hoping to have that in … the days to weeks ahead.”

With COVID-19 cases steadily climbing in the US, courtesy of the highly transmissible omicron variant, authorities have been pushing to get large numbers of people inoculated via a booster shot. Scientific studies suggest that the two-dose Pfizer vaccine does not provide adequate immunity against the new variant, but a booster shot can help drive up resistance against infection significantly.

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While authorities are providing booster shots to youth and adults over the age of 16, it is imperative to start providing booster shots to younger age groups too, given the alarming rise in COVID-19 cases. Indeed, data from the CDC suggests that between December 21 and 27, the seven-day average for daily hospitalisations for children increased by an alarming 58 percent, with the most common symptoms being difficulties in breathing, high fever, and dehydration.

Although a vaccine for children below the age of five has not yet been authorised for use in the US, authorities will be looking to vaccinate and provide booster shots to as many eligible age groups as possible as it looks to curb the spread of the omicron variant.