The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on May 17 authorized the use of a booster shot of Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11, making everyone in the United States over the age of 5 eligible for a third shot.

U.S. health regulators are expected to authorize a booster shot of Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 as soon as May 17, the New York Times reported on May 16, citing people familiar with the matter.

Pfizer Inc. and the company’s partner BioNTech SE said on April 26 that they had submitted an application to the U.S. health regulator for the authorization of a booster dose of their COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 years.

A third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer (PFE.N) and BioNTech (22UAy.DE) produced significant protection against the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in healthy children ages 5 to 11, the companies said on April 14.

Two doses of the Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE COVID-19 vaccine was protective against severe disease in children aged 5 to 11 during the recent Omicron variant surge, but quickly lost most of its ability to prevent infection in the age group, according to a study by New York State researchers.

The World Health Organization on January 21 recommended extending the use of a reduced dosage of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to children aged 5 to 11 years old.

The United States on Nov. 3 started vaccinating children aged 5 to 11 against Covid-19, with roughly 28 million school-age kids now eligible for the shots that provide protection against the illness.

Advisers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Nov. 2 unanimously supported broad use of Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine in children ages 5 to 11, with shots potentially going into young arms as soon as Nov. 3.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Oct. 29 authorized the Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE coronavirus vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 years, making it the first COVID-19 shot for young children in the United States.