AUSTRALIA’S TGA APPROVES PFIZER COVID-19 VACCINE FOR 12 TO 15-YEAR-OLDS

Fri 23 July 2021:

As the country battles an epidemic of the Delta strain in three states, Australia’s medicines regulator has approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for use with 12 to 15-year olds, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt announced on Friday.

Up until now, the Pfizer vaccine had only been approved for use in Australia for people aged 16 years and over.

Before extending its authorisation for the Pfizer vaccine to be administered to this age group, the Therapeutic Goods Administration thoroughly evaluated domestic and international evidence, Hunt said in a statement.

Similar clearances for the use of the vaccine in children were approved several weeks ago by regulators in the United States, European Union and Britain.

Australia’s vaccination panel will advise on which groups of children should be prioritized for the rollout of the vaccine and when it should be administered, Hunt said.

So far, just under 15 percent of the adult population has been fully vaccinated.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday apologized for the slow vaccination program as his government looks to speed up inoculations and meet a target to vaccinate the adult population by end-2021.

Australia has handled the pandemic much better than many other developed economies, with little over 32,400 COVID-19 cases and 915 deaths, but stop-and-start lockdowns and a delayed vaccination deployment have caused discontent.