Teenagers as young as sixteen could soon be eligible for the Covid booster after the nation’s drug regulator gave the green light for the Pfizer vaccine.
Under the changes announced by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, teens aged 16 to 17 years old will be eligible for a third dose three to four months after their second jab.
Previously, only people 18 years and older had been able to get a booster shot.
A final decision on the booster rollout for teenagers now sits with the nation’s expert immunisation panel.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation is expected to hand back it’s advice to government next week, if not sooner.
“If they say yes, then we‘ll be able to provide it immediately,” Mr Hunt told Sky News on Friday.
“It's always been a double green light, but it’s about additional protection for young people. And we hope they’ll join the over 7.3 million Australians that have already had boosters.”
The TGA announcement follows similar approvals in the US, the UK and Israel for a third dose for the same age group.
In a statement, the TGA said it is continuing to monitor medical trials for booster shots for younger children.
But NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has said he wants that change to be implemented sooner rather than later.
“I was hoping we would get the booster proved for younger people and 16 and 17-year-olds is a good start,” he told Sunrise.
“It would certainly be great if we could move it down further as soon as possible because there is no question the booster is what makes a big difference to minimising the transmission of the Omicron variants, but also the severity of it.”
