On January 3, 2022, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the COVID-19 Vaccine Booster for ages 12-15.  Due to COVID-19 being on the rise, the booster for ages 12-15-year-olds has been put in place under emergency use authorization (EUA).

Children under the age of 15 have only been allowed to have the Pfizer COVID vaccine.  Continuing with this trend, children between the ages of 12-15 will only be allowed to have the dosing of the Pfizer booster.  For children ages 12-15, the period between your second dose of the regular COVID vaccine and the date allowed for a booster has been shortened.  Now, if you are age 12-15, and had your booster exactly five or more months ago, you are eligible for a booster shot.  Also, children ages 5-11 who are immunocompromised are now eligible for a third primary dose of the Pfizer COVID vaccine.

Michael Russo, a student at Shore Regional, responded with his thoughts on the COVID-19 Booster Shot being available for ages 12-15.  “I think that it gives a nice opportunity to hopefully slow the spread of the newer variants that have been showing up left and right it feels like, and also provides a potentially massive crowd that can now further strengthen their resistance to the illness.”

Just as they were at the beginning of 2020, now at the beginning of 2021, COVID-19 case trends are also on the rise.  Millions of people in the United States have gotten COVID this holiday season.  Some faced the virus before, amid, and after their holiday.  Most likely, COVID case trends should start to decrease within the next month as we slowly move away from the holiday season.  However, in colder winter weather states like New Jersey, citizens cannot do nearly as much outside throughout the winter as they do in the summer.

So far, the majority of adults have been highly successful with the COVID-19 booster.  Some have had side effects, however, the side effects of the booster do not seem to be as negative and heavy as the effects from the 1st and 2nd COVID vaccines.  With this said, hopefully with the implementation of the COVID-19 booster for ages 12-15, we can start to see COVID cases start decreasing at a better rate.