The U.S. on Wednesday authorized updated COVID-19 boosters for children as young as 5, seeking to expand protection ahead of an expected winter wave.
Tweaked boosters rolled out for Americans 12 and older last month, doses modified to target today’s most common and contagious omicron relative. While there wasn’t a big rush, federal health officials are urging that people seek the extra protection ahead of holiday gatherings.
Now the Food and Drug Administration has given a green light for elementary school-age kids to get the updated booster doses, too — one made by Pfizer for 5- to 11-year-olds, and a version from rival Moderna for those as young as 6.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommends how vaccines are used, also signed off.
“So this is giving kids another option to increase their immunity ahead of what we do expect is going to be a bad respiratory virus season,” said Chad Neilsen, UF Health Jacksonville director of accreditation and infection prevention.
On Tuesday, White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha urged adults to get their updated shot in October — like they get flu vaccinations — or at least well before holiday gatherings with high-risk family and friends. People who’ve recently had COVID-19 still need the booster but can wait about three months, he added.
Neilsen said it’s important that everyone, including children, stays up to date with vaccination schedules. The updated COVID-19 booster shots contain half the recipe that targeted the original coronavirus strain and half protection against the dominant BA.4 and BA.5 omicron versions.
“And we are fortunate though that this booster will have that protection against the more recent strains of COVID that we’ve seen. We do know that kids didn’t suffer quite the same numbers of infection and, thankfully, not the same number of deaths that we’ve seen in adults, but it is still important to protect them from COVID because of what we know. There are long-term effects of long COVID,” Neilsen said. “So we think by giving them these booster shots, it’s going to be able to boost their immune protection.”
Both Pfizer’s and Moderna’s booster shots for children are expected to be available at pediatrician’s offices and area pharmacies soon.
Doctors at UF Health say now that Floridians aren’t wearing masks as frequently, they are seeing a general increase in respiratory viruses. According to the doctors, the colder weather in the days ahead will likely also increase the spread of infections like the new strains of COVID-19 and the flu.
More than 13 million children under the age of 18 years have tested positive for COVID-19, including over 5 million in 2022.