The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reportedly planning to allow Pfizer’s booster vaccine to be used on children 12 to 15 years old on Monday.

Regulators are also set on allowing children and adults to get their third shot of Pfizer’s vaccine five months after receiving the second dose, instead of the current recommended six months, people with knowledge on the FDA’s workings told The New York Times on Thursday.

Pfizer’s booster is currently approved for people 16 years and older, though children as young as five years old are eligible for the two-dose series.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) vaccine advisory committee plans to vote mid-next week on whether to recommend the revisions to Pfizer’s booster use. CDC If the CDC committee agrees with the FDA’s expected approvals, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky could quickly endorse the changes.

As the Omicron variant spreads, the US broke a single-day record with nearly half a million coronavirus cases – more than 488,000 – on Wednesday, according to a New York Times database. That is almost double the figure of the worst days last winter.

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