On January 3, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine booster shot for children ages 12 to 15.

The Pfizer shot is the first booster to become available for younger age groups, since Moderna’s and Johnson & Johnson’s booster shots currently have only been approved for adults age 18 and up. The CDC has also recently recommended that children who are at least 5 years old and severely or moderately immunocompromised receive a third dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine.

If you do not know what a booster shot is, it is an additional shot to be taken several months after the first round of immunization, with the purpose of helping prevent severe disease and “boosting” one’s protection against Covid-19. According to studies, the Pfizer booster shot increases antibodies by about 10 times. The booster is different from the other shots because it speeds up the prevention of getting Covid, increasing the effectiveness of the first and second shots. The booster shot is very effective as of 2022.

If you plan to get the booster, you should get it at least 5 months after your second dose of the vaccine, as recommended by the CDC. Studies have shown very high effectiveness after one to two weeks of receiving the booster.

The Covid-19 booster shot was first approved back in September — but only to those over 65 years old, are at higher risk of severe disease, or are regularly exposed to Covid-19. It later was approved for all adults in mid-November. Believe it or not, there have been about 41,000 booster shots administered in total thus far.

I believe that anyone that is fully vaccinated at East should receive the booster because it can highly protect you from getting Covid, especially with all the germs we touch in the school.