On May 12, 2021, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adopted the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP) recommendation that endorsed the safety and effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and its use in adolescents ages 12-15. CDC now recommends that this vaccine be used among this population, in addition to all previously recommended age groups. Providers may begin vaccinating adolescents ages 12-15 right away.

This official CDC recommendation follows the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decision on May 10, 2021 to authorize emergency use of this vaccine in adolescents ages 12-15.

The CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) with updated ACIP recommendations and clinical considerations is available here.

The Florida Department of Health (DOH), Immunization Section will notify all currently enrolled COVID-19 vaccine providers about the updated recommendation regarding the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use in adolescents ages 12-15.

The Florida SHOTS system will be unavailable beginning on 5/17/2021 at 9:00PM EST and is expected to return to service by 10:00PM. This effort is to add additional capacity to data center architecture and all related Department systems must be offline. Thank you for your patience during this time.

Click here to download the latest copy of the COVID spreadsheet template and be sure to read the instructions carefully before proceeding.

Updated 5/14