Pfizer asks for FDA authorization for booster for everyone 18 and up

Pfizer-BioNTech asked the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday for emergency use authorization for its Covid-19 booster shot for all adults ages 18 and up, a move the company has been angling for over the past several months. 

Pfizer’s request will now be considered by the FDA, which will make a final decision in the coming weeks. It’s unclear whether the agency will ask its independent advisory group, called the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, to offer guidance on authorizing the booster. 

Pfizer’s booster shot is currently authorized for certain subsets of adults in the United States: people ages 65 and up, people living in long-term care facilities and people ages 18 to 64 at high risk of Covid because of either underlying medical conditions or their jobs. It's given six months after completion of the initial two-dose vaccination series.

But those complicated criteria are not what the company initially intended.