Pfizer Inc. PFE, -3.24% and BioNTech SE BNTX, -5.52% announced Monday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Emergency Use Authorization of a booster dose of the companies’ COVID-19 vaccine into people ages 12 years and older. Previously, the FDA had only authorized a booster for people aged 16 years and older. “The booster vaccination increases the level of immunity and improves protection against COVID-19 across all age groups that have been authorized to receive one,” said BioNTech Chief Executive Ugur Sahin. “In the current situation, it is important to offer all eligible individuals a booster, particularly against the backdrop of the newly-emerging variants such as Omicron.” The FDA also reduced the time between getting the two-dose vaccine regimen and the booster shot to five months from six months. The FDA’s EUA comes after “real world evidence” of more than 4.1 million booster doses administered given at least 5 months after the primary series of doses showed no new safety concerns in children 12 through 17 years of age. The news didn’t help the companies’ stocks, however, as shares of Pfizer dropped 3.7% in morning trading and BioNTech slumped 6.6%. Meanwhile, share of Moderna Inc. MRNA, -6.97% sank 8.1% and Johnson & Johnson JNJ, -0.67% slipped 0.4%, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.31% rose 0.1%.
