EU health group appoves COVID booster shots for school age kids

Feb 24 (Reuters) - The European Union's health regulator on Thursday backed giving a booster shot of Pfizer (PFE.N) and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine to adolescents aged 12 and over, as well as the expanded use of Moderna's (MRNA.O) shot in children ages six to 11.

The recommendations by the European Medicine Agency's (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use will be followed by final decisions by the European Commission.

he moves come after several EU countries already started to offer booster doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to teens.

Germany's vaccine committee in January recommended all children between the ages of 12 and 17 receive a booster, following the initial two-shot course. Other nations in the region followed suit.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in a report this month that 10 countries in the European Economic Area, which comprises the 27 EU member states plus Liechtenstein, Iceland and Norway, had already recommended a booster dose for those under 18 years of age. ..