DETROIT – On Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expanded the emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to include adolescents 12 through 15 years of age.
MORE: Pfizer, BioNTech request expanded use of COVID-19 in children 12-15
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The FDA amended the EUA originally issued on Dec. 11, 2020 for administration in individuals 16 years of age and older.
“The FDA’s expansion of the emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to include adolescents 12 through 15 years of age is a significant step in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, M.D.
“Today’s action allows for a younger population to be protected from COVID-19, bringing us closer to returning to a sense of normalcy and to ending the pandemic. Parents and guardians can rest assured that the agency undertook a rigorous and thorough review of all available data, as we have with all of our COVID-19 vaccine emergency use authorizations.”
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FDA has granted emergency authorization to the Pfizer-Biontech vaccine for ages 12-15, per @theterminal. More from FDA here: https://t.co/U0EEtNkKYw
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) May 10, 2021