Kids under five can now be vaccinated against COVID-19

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The last age group in the US to get clearance to receive the vaccine is children under five. Both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were authorized by the agency.

It has taken a long time for young children to get the vaccines. The first vaccinations for this age group, which include kids between six months and five years old, will begin on June 20th.

The FDA approved the Moderna vaccine for children. Previously, it was only available to people over the age of 18.

Three shots at one-tenth the dose of the adult shots are included in Pfizer/ BioNTech's under five vaccine series. The two-shot series did not produce a strong enough immune response. Moderna uses two shots for children under the age of five.

The illness can still be dangerous for children if they contract it, even though they aren't at as high a risk. There were a record number of children under five in the hospital. The people who care for children under the age of five have an additional layer of protection as well. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll, only one in five parents of children under the age of five say they will get a vaccine. They want to wait and see.

The persistent spread of the virus throughout the country may make opening up vaccinations for the final segment of the population seem anticlimactic. The FDA sign-off on shots for adults was celebrated over a year ago. The vaccine protection against infections has been compromised by the delta and omicron variant. Even though the shots protect against the most serious effects of the virus, they aren't as powerful as they used to be. Almost everyone now has access to one of the most powerful tools available to combat the virus.

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