FDA Authorizes Updated Covid Vaccines For Kids as Young as 6 Months

By Will Feuer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration amended the emergency use authorizations for Moderna Inc.'s and Pfizer Inc.'s updated Covid-19 vaccines to authorize their use on children as young as six months of age.

The new authorization means children between the ages of six months and five years who received the original two-shot Moderna Covid-19 vaccine series can now receive a booster shot of the updated vaccine, which is tailored for defense against the latest strains of the virus.

Children between the ages of six months and four years who have not yet begun the three-dose series of the Pfizer vaccine, which is made with BioNTech SE, or have not yet received the third dose can now get the updated vaccine as the third dose of their series after receiving two shots of the original Pfizer vaccine, the FDA said.

Children between the ages of six months and four years who have already completed the three-shot Pfizer series will not be eligible for a booster dose of an updated bivalent vaccine, the FDA said.

"As this virus has changed, and immunity from previous Covid-19 vaccination wanes, the more people who keep up to date on Covid-19 vaccinations, the more benefit there will be for individuals, families and public health by helping prevent severe illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths," FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 08, 2022 10:29 ET (15:29 GMT)

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