FDA OKs First COVID-19 Booster Shots for Children Ages 5 to 11

The Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, has allowed the use of the first COVID-19 booster shots for children ages five to 11.

NPR reported that the new FDA authorization would allow the children in the age range to receive their third shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. They should receive their second shot at least five months ago to be eligible for the booster shot.

FDA noted that COVID-19 booster shots are safe and can significantly boost antibody levels, as well as counter waning immunity and provide added protection against the virus. The COVID-19 booster shot would also fight off the more contagious Omicron variant.

Before FDA's authorization, only children ages 12 and older and adults were allowed to receive the booster. Companies requested the authorization for COVID-19 booster shots for children based on a small study.

FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf said in a statement that the Omicron wave has seen more children getting sick with the disease and being hospitalized.

In addition, children may also experience long-term effects, even after initial mild disease.

Califf added that vaccination continues to be the most effective way to prevent COVID-19 and its severe consequences.

COVID-19 Booster Shots for Children

The vaccine makers said in a news release that antibody levels of children in the study are capable of blocking the original version of the virus six times higher after the booster shot, according to a Washington Post News report.

The booster shot also increases by 36-fold antibodies that neutralize the omicron.

Pfizer-BioNTech said that the results showed that the dose of the COVID-19 vaccine maintains high levels of protection against the virus in this age group.

The companies noted in April that the dose for school-age children was "carefully selected based on safety, tolerability and immunogenicity data."

The Centers for Disease Control said that only 28 percent of children five to 11 have been fully vaccinated.

Health officials have recommended booster shots for everyone 12 and older. Meanwhile, people 50 and older or those with impaired immune systems can consider getting a second booster.

COVID-19 Vaccine in U.S.

A new analysis found that COVID-19 vaccines could have prevented at least 318,000 virus-related deaths between January 2021 and April 2022.

The new analysis was done by researchers from Brown School of Public Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Microsoft AI for health, as reported by ABC News Go.

The researchers' findings suggest that at least "every second person" who died from COVID since vaccines have become accessible might have been saved by getting the shot.

The states where the most lives could have been saved by vaccines were West Virginia, Wyoming, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Oklahoma.

Meanwhile, states that showed the lowest number of vaccine-preventable deaths were Washington, D.C., Massachusetts, Puerto Rico, Vermont, and Hawaii.

More than 220 million Americans have been fully vaccinated, while 100 million have received their first COVID-19 booster shots.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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