Reports: FDA expected to recommend COVID-19 booster for adolescents next week

Dec. 30 (UPI) -- The Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 booster shots for 12-to-15-year-olds next week, unnamed sources familiar with the decision said Thursday.

The sources told The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN that the booster will be recommended five months after the older children receive their second vaccine, instead of the six months currently advised for adults.

Additionally, the FDA is expected to authorize a booster shot for younger children, ages 5 to 11, who have compromised immune systems.

Once the FDA makes its recommendation, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to make its own decision on booster shots for adolescents.

"Of course, the CDC will swiftly follow as soon as we hear from them, and I'm hoping to have that in the days to weeks ahead," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told CNN.

The Times reported that the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is expected to meet by the middle of next week to vote on whether to make a recommendation.

Currently, everyone 5 years old and older is eligible to receive an initial one or two-dose COVID-19 vaccine. Everyone 18 years old and older can receive a booster shot, and 16- and 17-year-olds are eligible to receive a Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot, according to the CDC.