Omicron Bivalent Booster for Kids Now Authorized by FDA for Kids as Young as Five
Children aged five and up now have access to a bivalent booster shot that targets Omicron variants of COVID-19. Access was granted Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), just hours after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the shots from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech for kids as young as five.
Like the adult version of the bivalent booster, these shots contain an mRNA component of the original SARS-CoV-2 strain, along with an mRNA component to help protect against Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5, which are currently circulating heavily in the U.S.
The mRNA in these vaccines is a specific piece of genetic material that tells cells in the body to make the spike protein of the original virus strain, as well as the BA.4 and BA.5 variants of Omicron, the FDA explains. Worth noting: The spike proteins of BA.4 and BA.5 are the same.
The FDA points out that this replaces authorization for the monovalent Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine that was previously used as a booster for kids between the ages of five and 11. However, that vaccine and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are still authorized for use as primary vaccinations for kids six months and older.
“While it has largely been the case that COVID-19 tends to be less severe in children than adults, as the various waves of COVID-19 have occurred, more children have gotten sick with the disease and have been hospitalized,” Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D ., director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at the FDA, said in a statement. “Children may also experience long-term effects, even following initially mild disease. We encourage parents to consider primary vaccination for children and follow-up with an updated booster dose when eligible.”
Bivalent booster side effects for kids
According to the CDC, side effects for the booster shot can be similar to what they are for the primary vaccination series. The most common side effects include:
Fever
Headache
Fatigue
Pain at the injection site
Who can receive the bivalent booster for kids?
The bivalent booster is now recommended for kids aged five and up. However, not everyone in this age group can get it. In order for your child to get the booster shot, they should meet the following criteria, per the CDC:
They completed their primary vaccination series at least two months ago.
It’s been two months since their last booster.
It’s been three months since they had COVID-19.
It’s important to stress this, per William Schaffner, M.D., an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine: “You can’t get the booster unless you’ve had the primary vaccination series.” So, you can’t just get your child the booster dose without going through all the other steps first.
What if your child recently had COVID-19?
It’s easy to assume your child doesn’t need a booster if they recently had COVID-19, but experts say it’s still a good idea to get the shot. “You get even more broad protection after you get the vaccine,” Dr. Schaffner says. “You really want to protect your child for as long as possible against potentially serious disease and the long-term consequences of COVID-19, such as long COVID.”
The CDC says that you may consider delaying the next vaccine dose (whether it’s in the primary series or the booster) by three months after when symptoms started for your child or when your child tested positive.
“This is not chiseled in stone, though,” says John Sellick, D.O., an infectious disease expert and epidemiological researcher at the University at Buffalo/SUNY. Meaning, if you’re headed to your pediatrician’s office for your flu shot or some other reason and you want to get your child’s booster dose while you’re there but it hasn’t quite been three months since they were infected, you’re probably OK to go ahead and get it done. “Earlier in the pandemic, we were recommending that people get vaccinated as soon as they recover,” Dr. Sellick points out.
Overall, experts applaud the ability to give kids the bivalent booster. “This has been long awaited,” Dr. Schaffner says. “This is going to be a really good thing—if we can get parents to actually give it to their children,” Dr. Sellick says.
The bivalent booster shot will be rolling out at doctor’s offices over the next few weeks. It’s currently available for kids at Walgreens locations nationwide, and is expected to be at most other major pharmacies soon.
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