The FDA approved retooled Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna for children as young as five years old to protect against the omicron strain.
Charles received a vaccine.
Pfizer and BioNTech's Covid vaccine was approved by the FDA for those five to 11 years old, while Moderna's shot was approved for those 6 and up two months after the last booster or primary series vaccine.
There is a potential for increased risk of exposure to the virus with children going back to school and people resuming pre-pandemic behaviors.
Even though cases appear to be less severe in children than in adults, vaccination remains the most effective measure to prevent the severe consequences of the coronaviruses.
The move comes two months after the FDA authorized Moderna and Pfizer's new bivalent booster, which protects against both the original Covid strain and omicron subvariants.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention needs to sign off on the shots before they can be given to kids.
About 5% of the total population eligible for the new shot have opted for the new booster, according to data from the CDC. Half of the people who received a primary series vaccine have had a booster shot.
A total of 172 million. The federal government has purchased a lot of Covid vaccine.
A pair of new omicron subvariants have been on the rise in recent weeks, making up 18% of all Covid infections for the week ending October 8. Cyrus Shahpar, the White House COVID-19 data director, said last week that the new bivalent booster increased protection against the emerging variant.
Fearing a winter surge of Covid infections after a deadly wave of omicron infections last winter, the FDA advised pharmaceutical manufacturers in June to update coronaviruses boosters. The two strains arrived in the U.S. around late March and quickly became the dominant Covid variant. The FDA has suggested the U.S. may approach coronaviruses like annual flu shots, which are updated each year to tackle the most prevalent strains, but data and polling suggests some Americans aren't inclined to keep getting shots
The US's estimate of how many people will use the new covid booster was off.
Live updates on the coronaviruses.
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