Kids ages 5-11 can now get the bivalent COVID booster targeting BA.5

Enlarge / Avery, 6, and Aidan, 11, received their second dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center on Friday, June 25, 2021, in the part of the KidCOVE study evaluating the safety and efficacy of the Moderna vaccine in young children. Getty | Media News Group

The United States on Wednesday expanded access to "updated" bivalent COVID-19 boosters targeting the omicron BA.5 subvariant, now allowing children ages 5-11 to receive a booster injection in the fall. Previously, only adults and children under 12 were eligible.

In quick succession, the Food and Drug Administration this morning announced expanded clearance for the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna bivalent COVID-19 boosters, with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky approving that clearance — officially making vaccines available for little arms — hours later.

“This is a critical step in our fight against COVID-19,” Walensky wrote in a tweet announcing his recommendation. "An updated vaccine can help boost protection for our children this winter."

The Pfizer/BioNTech Bivalent Booster will now be available to everyone ages 5 and up, while the Moderna Bivalent Booster will be available to everyone ages 6 and up. Both vaccines are licensed in single doses, which can be given at least two months after any previous vaccine. The authorization of the bivalent booster vaccines simultaneously cancels the authorization of the monovalent COVID-19 boosters used previously. Only bivalent boosters will be available for authorized age groups.

The updated boosters are bivalent, meaning they carry the immune drive genetic code of the spike proteins from an ancestral strain of SARS-CoV-2 as well as the latest omicron subvariant to dominate , BA.5. The BA.5 targeting portion of the booster may be critical before winter.

Autumn campaign

For now, BA.5 remains dominant in the United States and around the world, but public health experts are closely monitoring more than 300 evolving variants, some of which have the potential to proliferate and overtake BA. 5. Many of those concerning variants are sublines of BA.5. If a BA.5 subline ends up driving a future wave, those boosted by the bivalent injections may be in the best position to fend off an infection. But, of course, it's too early to tell what the next wave will be, only that another wave is inevitable. Even if a BA.5 subline isn't what emerges, experts say the updated boosters further strengthen and broaden immune protection and should still prevent serious illness and death.

In the FDA announcement this morning, the FDA's top vaccine regulator, Peter Marks, made the case for parents to get their children vaccinated.

“Vaccination remains the most effective measure to prevent the serious consequences of COVID-19, including hospitalization and death,” Marks said. "While it has been largely true that COVID-19 tends to be less severe in children than in adults, as different waves of COVID-19 have occurred, more children are have become ill with the disease and have been hospitalized. Children may also experience long-term effects, even after initially mild illness. We encourage parents to consider a primary vaccination for children and follow-up with an updated booster dose. day when eligible."

At a Tuesday press briefing, White House coronavirus response coordinator Ashish Jha continued to tune in for the fall recall campaign in general, urging Americans to try to get their boost before Halloween.

"Why Halloween? Because it takes your immune system a few weeks to, you know, kind of get the benefits of this vaccine," Jha said. "And that means you'll be ready for Thanksgiving and definitely for the holidays," which often involve family reunions and get-togethers that can easily erupt...