U.S. FDA clears Pfizer's COVID booster shot for young children

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration hasauthorized the use of a booster shot of Pfizer andBioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11,the regulator said on Tuesday.

The authorization makes everyone in the United States agedfive and above eligible for booster doses of the vaccine,although the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) still needs to sign off on the shots.

"While it has largely been the case that COVID-19 tends tobe less severe in children than adults, the Omicron wave hasseen more kids getting sick with the disease and beinghospitalized," FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said in astatement.

Califf said the authorization would help provide continuedprotection against COVID-19 in that age group. Data has shownthat vaccine effectiveness starts to wane over time.

The U.S. government has been urging Americans to getboosters, and for the unvaccinated who are at much higher riskof severe COVID-19 and death to be inoculated.

But it is unclear how many parents of children aged 5to 11 will opt for a third dose. Just 28.8 per centof children in thatage group are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.

Children below the age of five are not yet eligible for aCOVID-19 vaccine in the United States.

Roughly 66 per centof the U.S. population, or 220.6 million people,have received the full vaccination schedule so far, according tofederal data. Of those, 102.3 million people have received onebooster dose, and 11.7 million have received a second booster.

The CDC has scheduled a meeting of outside advisers todiscuss vaccine boosters on Thursday. The agency's director hasthe final say on the administration of vaccines.