A day after reports started coming out that the Food and Drug Administration was looking to approve Pfizer’s COVID-19 boosters in kids ages 16 and 17, new details are leaving more questions than answers as to the origin of the new Omicron variant. According to those details, the Netherlands’ RIVM health institute found omicron in samples before South Africa first reported the variant to the World Health Organization.
In the days following South Africa’s report, countries around the world, including the United States, announced travel bans from South Africa and other nearby countries. Those moves have been criticized by South Africa and the WHO. In addition to adding uncertainty as to the origin of the the Omicron variant, Tuesday’s news made it increasingly clear travel bans would struggle to stop the spread of the variant. The Netherlands, Belgium and France have now all reported cases in people who were in their countries before the European Union imposed flight restrictions. German authorities said a man who had neither been abroad nor had contact with anyone who had been abroad tested positive for the variant.
The cases in France, reported Tuesday, are the country’s first of the Omicron variant. Japan also announced its first case Tuesday, the same days the country began banning all foreign visitors.
As the origin of the Omicron variant remains unclear, the FDA could approve Pfizer boosters for kids as young as 16 as early next week, according to a report from the The Wall Street Journal citing “a person familiar with the planning”.
Earlier this month, U.S. health officials approved the use of boosters for all adults, regardless of which company the vaccine came from. On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strengthened their booster recommendation to include all adults. So far, no company’s booster shots have been approved for use in kids. Since 16- and 17-year-olds were included in the FDA’s original EUA for the Pfizer vaccine last December, millions of kids would become immediately eligible for the Pfizer booster if granted FDA approval.
