WASHINGTON - An advisory panel for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted Wednesday to endorse the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for older children ages 12 to 15, one of the final steps toward making the shots widely available for the age group in an effort to speed up the return to schools.The approval from the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices follows the Food and Drug Administration on Monday expanding its emergency use authorization of the Pfizer vaccine for ages 12 to 15.
The FDA cited evidence that the shots worked as well for the younger age group as for those 16 and older.The CDC committee’s endorsement now awaits final approval by CDC Director Dr.