US CDC recommends reducing time span between 2nd COVID vaccine dose & booster for teens

As the Omicron scare is rising in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has agreed to reduce the time period between the primary set of coronavirus vaccine and the Pfizer booster injection from six to five months in teenagers aged between 12 and 17 years. The members of the Advisory Committee had voted 13 to 1 to support early boosting for teenagers in that age bracket.

The Advisory Committee recommendation revealed on Wednesday, "A single Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine booster dose is recommended for persons aged 12-17 years at least five months after primary series under the FDA's Emergency Use Authorization," Sputnik reported.

Furthermore, the Advisory Committee noted that it would soon start advising to be "up to date" on immunisation against the COVID-19 disease instead of pushing individuals to be completely inoculated. Staying updated on the same entails receiving the third dosage if someone is qualified, which includes people with impaired immune systems.

US booster vaccines for kids aged 12-17

In addition to this, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of CDC, paved the path on Wednesday for additional booster doses which will be administered to individuals aged 12 to 15 immediately. The advisers' clear statement on the need for booster vaccines makes it easier for federal health officials to deliver a strong message to families and others, USA Today reported. The committee also reaffirmed its proposal that boosters be given to 16 and 17-year-olds. 

In a statement, Walensky said, "It is critical that we protect our children and teens from COVID-19 infection and the complications of severe disease," AP reported.

Pointing to the data suggesting that boosters "help broaden and strengthen protection against Omicron and other variants", Walensky stated that vaccines and boosters decrease serious illness from an exponentially spreading variant that has hospitalised both children and adults in the US. 

According to the Washington Post, Health authorities made their decision as the rapid spread of Omicron in the nation continued, with the weekly cases average surpassing 580,000 on Wednesday. The average number of COVID-19 hospitalisations was around 109,000.

Meanwhile, as per Worldometers, over 58,805,186 individuals have been affected by the disease in the nation since the outbreak, and more than 853,612 people have lost their lives due to Coronavirus. 

(Image: AP)