Chile's public health regulator has approved the use of Pfizer and BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine for teenagers, it said in a statement, as the country races to hit a target of herd immunity by July.

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has already been rolled out in Chile for those 17 and older since emergency approval was granted in December and will now be offered for children aged 12 to 16, the ISP regulator said.

The ISP said its decision followed similar authorisation granted by the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency.

The ISP's director, Heriberto Garcia, said the decision would help Chile hit its goal of herd immunity with 80 per cent of the target population vaccinated by July.