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.
Americans may be tired of repeated calls to get boosted against COVID-19 but experts say the updated shots have an advantage: They contain half the recipe that targeted the original coronavirus strain and half protection against the dominant BA.4 and BA.5 omicron versions. The updated boosters are “extremely important” for keeping kids healthy and in school, said Dr. Jason Newland, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Washington University in St. Louis.
To pediatricians’ chagrin, getting children their first vaccinations has been tougher. Less than a third of 5- to 11-year-olds have had their two primary doses and thus would qualify for the new booster. While children tend to get less seriously ill than adults, “as the various waves of COVID-19 have occurred, more children have gotten sick with the disease and have been hospitalized,” Marks said.
As for even younger tots, first vaccinations didn’t open for the under-5 age group until mid-June — and it will be several more months before regulators decide if they’ll also need a booster using the updated recipe.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
US clears updated COVID boosters for kids as young as 5Kids as young as 5 can soon get updated COVID-19 booster shots
Read more »
US clears updated COVID boosters for kids as young as 5The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommends how vaccines are used, also signed off.
Read more »
US clears updated COVID boosters for kids as young as 5Kids as young as 5 can soon get updated COVID-19 booster shots.
Read more »
US clears updated COVID boosters for kids as young as 5Kids as young as 5 can soon get updated COVID-19 booster shots.
Read more »
US authorizes updated COVID-19 boosters for children as young as 5“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.
Read more »