Local pediatrician weighs in on COVID boosters for younger teens

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — A local pediatrician weighed in on the sign-off for booster shots for younger teens.

Wednesday night, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave the green light for booster doses of the Pfizer vaccine for 12 to 15-year-olds.

Dr. Steven Schulz with Rochester Regional Health said booster doses of vaccines are very common.

"If you think about most of the vaccines we start giving children at 2 months of age there are 3, 4, 5 dose series over the course of months to years so this isn’t necessarily surprising at all," Schulz said.

Dr. Schulz said we don’t know yet if the COVID vaccine will end up being an annual vaccine like the flu shot, but says getting that extra dose five to six months after your initial series helps provide additional protection against the omicron variant.

Dr. Schulz also said if you do get a breakthrough case, it should be milder.