Children as young as 5 are now eligible to receive the new updated COVID-19 boosters, which target the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Both the FDA and the CDC signed off on the shots for this age group.
, which target the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Both the Food Drug and Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed off on the shots for this age group on Wednesday.
The approved booster is what’s known as a bivalent vaccine, which can protect from more than one virus or subtype of a virus. This vaccine is designed to target both the original strain and the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants. The BA.5 subvariant continues to dominate infections, accounting for about 80% of cases in the United States, according to theThe FDA authorized Pfizer-BioNTech's bivalent vaccine for kids ages 5 to 11.
After Wednesday’s authorization, the monovalent COVID-19 vaccines developed by Moderna and Pfizer, which target the original strain of the coronavirus only, will no longer be authorized as a booster shot for these age groups, the FDA said. But the monovalent vaccine will “continue to be authorized for primary series administration in individuals six months of age and older,” the agency noted in Wednesday’s statement.
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