Australia's drug regulator approves Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds

Australia's drug regulator approves Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds
Vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are pictured.
PHOTO: Reuters

SYDNEY - Australia's drug regulator has approved Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine for use with 12- to 15-year-olds, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Friday (July 23), as the country fights an outbreak of the Delta variant in three states.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has thoroughly assessed the domestic and international evidence before extending its approval for the Pfizer vaccine to be administered to this age group, Mr 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.

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

Australia's vaccination panel will advise on which groups of children should be prioritised in the roll-out of the vaccine and when it should be administered, Mr Hunt said.

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With just over 32,400 Covid-19 cases and 915 deaths, Australia has handled the pandemic much better than many other developed economies, but stop-and-start lockdowns and a sluggish vaccine roll-out have led to frustration.

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

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

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