US recommends five-month gap for Pfizer COVID-19 booster dose

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday recommended shortening the interval between Pfizer-BioNTech’s second COVID-19 vaccine dose and the booster shot to five months from six.

The move follows the US Food and Drug Administration’s decision on Monday to reduce the interval for the booster dose and authorize the use of a third dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children aged 12 to 15 years..

The CDC has also recommended that moderately or severely immunocompromised children aged five to 11 years receive an additional dose of vaccine 28 days after their second shot.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in late October last year, is the only vaccine available for children aged five to 11 years in the United States.

The CDC has not changed the booster interval recommendation for people who have received the Johnson & Johnson or the Moderna vaccine, which remains at two and six months respectively.

A CDC advisory panel is set to meet on Wednesday to discuss the use of a booster dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 12 to 15 years.