U.S. regulators on Tuesday authorized a COVID-19 booster shot for healthy children ages 5 to 11, hoping an additional vaccine dose will improve their protection as infections rise again.
Anyone 12 and over was already supposed to get a booster dose for the best protection against new coronavirus variants – and some people, including those 50 and over, can choose a second booster.
The Food and Drug Administration’s clearance now also opens a third vaccine to elementary-aged children — at least five months after their last dose.
There’s another hurdle: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must decide whether to formally recommend the booster for this age group. CDC science advisers are scheduled to meet on Thursday.
Pfizer’s vaccine is the only COVID-19 vaccine available for children of any age in the United States. Children aged 5 to 11 receive one-third the dose given to anyone 12 years and older.
The question of whether elementary-age children need a booster has been eclipsed by outcry from parents to vaccinate even younger toddlers, those under age 5 — the only group not yet eligible in the States. -United. Pfizer and rival Moderna have studied their vaccines in younger children, and the FDA is expected to assess data from one or both companies next month.
For children aged 5 to 11, it is not known what the demand for reminders will be. Only about 30% of this age group have received the first two doses of Pfizer since vaccinations were opened to them in November.
But in a small study, Pfizer found that a booster boosted those children’s anti-virus antibody levels – including those able to fight off the omicron – the same kind of jump adults get from an extra injection. .
While the coronavirus is more dangerous for adults than children, young people can get seriously ill — and more than 350 children between the ages of 5 and 11 have died, according to the CDC tally.
Adding to public confusion, the CDC estimates that 3 out of 4 American children of all ages have been infected with the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic – many of them during the winter surge of omicron. Yet health authorities are urging vaccination even in people who have already had COVID-19, to boost their protection.
Vaccination may not always prevent milder infections, especially since omicron and its siblings are better than some earlier variants at bypassing these defenses. But health authorities agree that vaccinations continue to offer strong protection against the worst outcomes of COVID-19, including hospitalization and death.
The Huffington Gt