From RT.com….
The US FDA has extended emergency use authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine to children as young as 12, saying that, despite low case and death rates in the age group, potential benefits outweigh any known risks.
“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,” acting FDA commissioner Dr. Janet Woodstock said in a statement on Monday. “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.”
“The FDA has determined that Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine has met the statutory criteria to amend the EUA, and that the known and potential benefits of this vaccine in individuals 12 years of age and older outweigh the known and potential risks, supporting the vaccine’s use in this population,” the press release states.
The decision opens up the vaccine to a new segment of the population after inoculations were previously allowed only down to the age of 16. It also comes at a time when all US states have worked through their vaccine priority groups and made shots available to everyone 16 and older.
