CDC: Anyone ages 12-17 should get COVID-19 booster
Children between the ages of 12 and 15 should get a booster shot to enhance protection against COVID-19, the CDC said Wednesday. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Children ages 12 to 17 should get a COVID-19 booster to enhance their protection from the rapidly spreading disease, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday night.
Earlier on Wednesday, an advisory panel to the CDC urged anyone between 12 and 15 to get a booster. The Food and Drug Administration made its own recommendation in favor of boosters for young people this week.
"It is critical that we protect our children and teens from COVID-19 infection and the complications of severe disease," Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC’s director, said in a statement Wednesday night. "This booster dose will provide optimized protection against COVID-19 and the Omicron variant. I encourage all parents to keep their children up to date with CDC’s COVID-19 vaccine recommendations."
The advisory panel had previously concluded that fully vaccinated children between 12 and 15 should get the booster five months after their second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The vaccine made by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech is the only one authorized for American children of any age.
Experts say vaccines are still effective at making sure those who contract COVID-19 are either asymptomatic or experience mild symptoms and do not need hospitalization. But that protection wanes over time.
Booster doses have been shown in studies to increase virus-fighting antibodies in fully vaccinated people.
About 13.5 million children ages 12 to 17 have received two Pfizer shots, according to the CDC. Boosters were opened to the 16- and 17-year-olds last month. In November, the CDC recommended booster shots for all fully vaccinated people 18 and older.
"I think it’s a misconception to say [COVID-19] is a mild or insignificant disease for kids," said Dr. Leonard Krilov, an infectious disease specialist and chairman of pediatrics at NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island in Mineola, pointing out that about one-quarter of new COVID-19 infections are occurring in children.
As for children being back in school and potentially facing wider exposure to COVID-19, Krilov said: "I think the more we can do to safely protect them. I think it’s the right thing to do."
In making its decision, the FDA looked at data from 6,300 12- to 15-year-olds in Israel who got a Pfizer booster five months after their second dose.
One concern discussed during the CDC advisory meeting was a rare side effect called myocarditis, a type of heart inflammation seen mostly in younger men and teen boys who get either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
Experts noted the majority of cases are mild and less concerning than the heart inflammation caused by COVID-19.
"The vaccine is safe but safe doesn’t mean harmless," Krilov said. "The side effects we've seen, even with the rare cases of myocarditis, are much milder than with the disease and have been, fortunately, reversible."
With AP
Lisa joined Newsday as a staff writer in 2019. She previously worked at amNewYork, the New York Daily News and the Asbury Park Press covering politics, government and general assignment.
