--- title: FDA Expands Booster Doses to People 16 Years and Older description: The FDA added 16- and 17-year olds to the groups who are now able to get a COVID-19 booster shot. canonical: https://time.com/6127090/fda-booster-doses-16-years/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2021-12-09T17:09:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T10:37:21.594Z article:section: Health og:title: FDA Expands Booster Doses to People 16 Years and Older og:description: The FDA added 16- and 17-year olds to the groups who are now able to get a COVID-19 booster shot. og:url: https://time.com/6127090/fda-booster-doses-16-years/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc289a465c3c40e9f/698a207b8fd2ee884b3634a5/GettyImages-1237049999.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Coronavirus - Vaccination Centre Zoo Hannover og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: FDA Expands Booster Doses to People 16 Years and Older twitter:description: The FDA added 16- and 17-year olds to the groups who are now able to get a COVID-19 booster shot. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc289a465c3c40e9f/698a207b8fd2ee884b3634a5/GettyImages-1237049999.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # FDA Expands Booster Doses to People 16 Years and Older > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=52a75cef-d8e7-417d-92b4-85622e11d8fa&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1)  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Dec 9, 2021 5:09 PM UTC  06 December 2021, Lower Saxony, Hanover: Rescue assistant Joachim Gerhardy of the Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe prepares a vaccination of the Corona virus with the vaccine Comirnaty from Biontech in the former Rainforest Panorama at the Hannover Adventure Zoo. At the zoo, there is a new vaccination offer, which will then in the future be aimed primarily at children. Photo: Julian Stratenschulte/dpa (Photo by Julian Stratenschulte/picture alliance via Getty Images) 06 December 2021, Lower Saxony, Hanover: Rescue assistant Joachim Gerhardy of the Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe prepares a vaccination of the Corona virus with the vaccine Comirnaty from Biontech in the former Rainforest Panorama at the Hannover Adventure Zoo. At the zoo, there is a new vaccination offer, which will then in the future be aimed primarily at children. Photo: Julian Stratenschulte/dpa (Photo by Julian Stratenschulte/picture alliance via Getty Images) dpa/picture alliance via Getty I—(c) Copyright 2021, dpa (www.dpa.de). Alle Rechte vorbehalten  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Dec 9, 2021 5:09 PM UTC The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now says that [16- and 17-year olds can get a booster](https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-expands-eligibility-pfizer-biontech-covid-19-booster-dose-16-and-17) dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The decision expands the agency’s emergency use authorization for booster doses, which it [issued](https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-expands-eligibility-covid-19-vaccine-boosters) on Nov. 19 for adults 18 and older. As with the previous group, the FDA recommends that those receiving a booster should get the additional dose at least six months after getting the first two shots of the vaccine. The decision comes as concerns about the [Omicron variant](https://time.com/6124074/covid-19-new-variant-europe/) continue to mount, and as Pfizer-BioNTech [announced](https://time.com/6126612/omicron-pfizer-booster/) that the booster dose dramatically increases protection against the new variant compared to the original two doses of the vaccine. The companies reported on Dec. 8 that in lab studies, blood samples from people who had received a booster dose showed higher levels of antibodies able to neutralize the Omicron variant than samples from people who were vaccinated with two doses. “As people gather indoors with family and friends for the holidays, we can’t let up on all the preventive public health measures that we have been taking during the pandemic,” said acting FDA commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock in a statement announcing the expanded authorization. “With both the Delta and Omicron variants continuing to spread, vaccination remains the best protection against COVID-19.” In making its decision, the FDA relied on data about the safety and effectiveness of the additional dose for those 18 years and older, and concluded that the booster would also be safe for those who are 16 and 17 years old. The biggest concern in this younger group is the risk of inflammation of heart tissue associated with the vaccine; the FDA scientists reviewed real-world data from vaccinated young adults and determined that the benefits of the vaccine in protecting against COVID-19 outweighed the small risk of the side effect. “Since we first authorized the vaccine, new evidence indicates that vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 is waning after the second dose of the vaccine for all adults and for those in the 16- and 17-year old age group,” said Dr. Peter Marks, director of the Center for Biologics and Evaluation and Research at the FDA, in a statement. “A single booster dose of the vaccine for those vaccinated at least six months prior will help provide continued protection against COVID-19 in this and older age groups.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6127090/fda-booster-doses-16-years/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6127090/fda-booster-doses-16-years/"},"headline":"FDA Expands Booster Doses to People 16 Years and Older","datePublished":"2021-12-09T17:09:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T10:37:21.594Z","description":"The FDA added 16- and 17-year olds to the group now able to get a COVID-19 booster","url":"https://time.com/6127090/fda-booster-doses-16-years/","keywords":["COVID-19"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc289a465c3c40e9f/698a207b8fd2ee884b3634a5/GettyImages-1237049999.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alice Park","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/alice-park/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc289a465c3c40e9f/698a207b8fd2ee884b3634a5/GettyImages-1237049999.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Coronavirus - Vaccination Centre Zoo Hannover","caption":"Coronavirus - Vaccination Centre Zoo Hannover","creditText":"dpa/picture alliance via Getty I—(c) Copyright 2021, dpa (www.dpa.de). 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