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Updated December 1st, 2021 at 14:48 IST

Pfizer to seek US' approval for COVID-19 vaccine boosters for ages 16-17: Report

US drugmaker Pfizer is expected to seek authorisation this week for a COVID-19 vaccine booster for teenagers 16 and 17 years old, stated a media report.

Reported by: Aanchal Nigam
Omicron
(IMAGE: Unsplash/Twitter) | Image:self
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US drugmaker Pfizer is expected to seek authorisation this week for a COVID-19 vaccine booster for teenagers 16 and 17 years old. Citing unnamed people familiar with the situation, Washington Post reported on Tuesday that Pfizer and its partner BioNTech are expected to ask the US Food and Drug Administration in the coming days to authorise its booster shot for that age group. The sources further said that the US regulators are expected to sign off quickly.

Presently, US citizens who are 18 and older are eligible for boosters six months after receiving the second shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines. Americans were also allowed to receive Johnson & Johnson booster just two months after getting the single-shot jab. The latest move of expanding the eligibility of booster shots among teens came in the backdrop of the White House is grappling with the new Omicron COVID-19 variant. 

Earlier on Monday, US President Joe Biden called on Americans to get vaccinated and schedule boosters. He also termed the shots “the best protection against this new variant or any of the variants out there.”

Pfizer unsure of COVID vaccine's efficacy on Omicron

Pfizer also said on Friday that it can research and launch an updated version of its existing vaccine against COVID-19 in the wake of Omicron variant detection. The US drugmaker said that it can tweak its coronavirus vaccine in about 100 days if the new B.1.1.529 variant, detected first in South Africa, is found evading the current jabs. The company said that it is already investigating the present vaccines to determine their efficacy against Omicron. 

In a statement obtained by Fox News, Pfizer said, “In the event that vaccine-escape variant emerges, Pfizer and BioNTech expect to be able to develop and produce a tailor-made vaccine against that variant in approximately 100 days, subject to regulatory approval” while agreeing that the variant “significantly differs” from all previously observed ones.

(IMAGE: Unsplash/Twitter)

 

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Published December 1st, 2021 at 14:48 IST

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