The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID booster shots for children between 12 to 15 years at least five months after their second COVID-19 vaccine dose. The development comes as the country is witnessing a surge in the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

Boosters already are recommended for everyone 16 and older, and federal regulators have decided they're also warranted for 12- to 15-year-olds once enough time has passed since their last dose.

The FDA had said everyone 12 and older eligible for a booster can get one as early as five months after their last dose rather than six months.

Vaccines still offer strong protection against serious illness from any type of COVID-19. But health authorities are urging everyone whos eligible to get a booster dose for their best chance at avoiding milder breakthrough infections from the highly contagious omicron mutant.

Children tend to suffer less serious illness from COVID-19 than adults. But child hospitalizations are rising during the omicron wave -- most of them unvaccinated.

The vaccine made by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech is the only U.S. option for children of any age. About 13.5 million 12- to 17-year-olds just over half that age group have received two Pfizer shots, according to the CDC.

The older teens, 16- and 17-year-olds, became eligible for boosters in early December. But original vaccinations opened for the younger teens, those 12 to 15, back in May.

With inputs from AP