The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, in English) on Thursday gave the final endorsement of booster doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for young people aged 16 and 17 years.
The authorization comes after the United States urged all adults to get a booster dose of the new variant of COVID-19, called omicron.
“Although we don’t have all the answers about the omicron variant, initial data suggests that booster doses of COVID-19 help expand and strengthen protection against omicron and other variants.“CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in a statement.
Walensky’s final endorsement came hours after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave an emergency clearance for minors 16 and 17 to get the booster dose six months after receiving the second injection. of Pfizer whey.
On Wednesday, the results of studies by Pfizer and BioNTech were released showing that booster doses could help activate the immune system against omicron, first detected in South Africa.
So far, about 200 million people have been fully vaccinated in the United States, that is, they have received either the two doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, or an injection of the Johnson & Johnson preparation, which represents 60.4% of the country’s population, according to the CDC.
According to these data, 48.8 million (24.4% of the population) have received a booster dose.
The United States is the country hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic with nearly 800,000 deaths and 45.5 million infections since March 2020, the Johns Hopkins University count indicates.
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