FDA authorizes Pfizer boosters for 12-15 year olds. PLUS Monthly Child Tax Credit not extended… yet

January 3, 2022

Three big f-d-a decisions for Pfizer’s Covid19 vaccine boosters you need to know about in just 60 seconds.

The FDA approved the expanded emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s vaccine to include:

1. Approving a Pfizer booster for 12- to 15-year-olds
2. Shortening the time between completion of the first two Pfizer doses and the booster to five months instead of six months for *everyone* over the age of 12
3. And three — allowing a third primary series dose of the Pfizer vaccine for certain immunocompromised kids between the age of 5 and eleven. Those immunocompromised kids include those who have had a solid organ transplant or who have been diagnosed with conditions that are equivalent. If your 5- to 11-year-old has not had a solid organ transplant or an equivalent condition, they are *not* authorized for this third dose. 

This is not done just yet – as always, the CDC needs to still sign off on all of this. They are expected to meet and discuss it later this week.

But in the meantime – understand these changes are *only* for the Pfizer vaccine. The FDA says they’re still examining the other vaccines but as of yet, there is no change to Moderna or J&J’s EUA status.

There’s a lot of information about these Pfizer boosters on the FDA’s website.

Read it here.

PLUS

In just 12 days millions of American households are expecting to receive their January monthly Child Tax Credit payment. But that payment is unlikely to come.

Congress has not yet passed the legislation that currently includes the extension of the Monthly Child Tax Credit and there is little consensus on how to move forward with it. The current location of the extension is in the Build Back Better bill which has been completely stalled since the beginning of December.

There is talk of Democrats pulling the monthly child tax credit from the Build Back Better bill and voting on it as a separate piece of legislation but that process has also not begun. There is also talk that the lone Democrat hold out on the Build Back Better bill, Senator Joe Manchin is willing to resume negotiations on that bill. However, he wants the monthly Child Tax Credit stripped out of the bill.

This doesn’t mean the program won’t resume, ever. It just means it doesn’t appear that it’ll resume before the expected January 15^th payment.