The Food and Drug Administration amended the emergency use authorization to approve the Pfizer booster shot.
The booster will be administered six months after an individual's second vaccine.
The FDA says it will be available to:
- individuals 65 years of age and older;
- individuals 18 through 64 years of age at high risk of severe COVID-19; and
- individuals 18 through 64 years of age whose frequent institutional or occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2 puts them at high risk of serious complications of COVID-19 including severe COVID-19.
Other populations like health care workers, teachers and day care staff, grocery workers and those in homeless shelters or prisons, among others, will be offered the shot.
“Today’s action demonstrates that science and the currently available data continue to guide the FDA’s decision-making for COVID-19 vaccines during this pandemic," said Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, M.D.
Woodcock says the decision was made with all the available scientific evidence and with deliberation from the FDA's advisory committee of experts.
"As we learn more about the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, including the use of a booster dose, we will continue to evaluate the rapidly changing science and keep the public informed," she said.
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