The government’s fall vaccination programme will be expanded with the approval of Omicron-tailored COVID-19 booster doses from Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) and Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) for children as young as 5.
The bivalent vaccine from Moderna was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday for individuals six years of age and older, while the revised vaccination from Pfizer was approved for children five years of age and older.
The FDA’s approval was supported by the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well, paving the door for the injections to be given to youngsters.
The new bivalent booster shots from Moderna and Pfizer are directed against the original Omicron subvariant as well as the BA.4 and the now prevalent BA.5.
According to Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, ‘there is the possibility for greater risk of exposure to the virus since children have returned to school in person and people are resuming pre-pandemic habits and activities.’
Nearly 40% of children aged 5 to 11 have received one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine so far in the United States, where overall immunisation rates for children have remained low.
Following the CDC’s recommendation, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine will be supplied, the firms stated.
Without affecting the distribution of doses for people 12 years of age and older, Pfizer claimed it has the potential to supply up to 6 million paediatric doses in the first seven calendar days.
With roughly 79% of cases in the United States, the BA.5 subvariant of Omicron is still the predominant strain.
Only 5.4% of those 12 and older who are eligible for the revised shots—roughly 11.5 million people—received them during the first five weeks of the rollout last month.
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