European medicines watchdog to decide on COVID-19 vaccine for children on Thursday

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) will be discussing an application by Pfizer-BioNTech to extend its Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine to children aged five to 11 on Thursday.

As of right now, the vaccine is only approved for use in people aged 12 and over.

Until yesterday, Malta had administered 933,791 vaccine doses, of which 99,506 were booster doses. According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), 65% of Europe is fully vaccinated.

Malta has been at the forefront of vaccinations and booster doses have been rolled out among the elderly, vulnerable people, and more recently educators, healthcare workers and carers.

On Tuesday, Health Minister Chris Fearne and Nationalist health spokesperson Stephen Spiteri, both doctors, received the COVID-19 booster dose together.

Taking to Twitter, Fearne said: "The vaccine protected us during the summer and autumn. The booster will protect us during the winter. When your appointment arrives, get the booster too!"