The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expects COVID-19 vaccine boosters that target circulating variants of the COVID-19 virus to be available for children aged 5 to 11 years by mid-October 2022.
The US CDC said that it expects to make a recommendation in early to mid-October 2022 on the use of the new bivalent COVID-19 vaccines in the group, if the COVID-19 vaccines are approved by the US FDA. The bivalent COVID-19 vaccines, which target both the original version and the currently circulating variants of the COVID-19 virus, were rolled out for children 12 years and older earlier this month.
The US CDC said it is expecting bivalent vaccines from Pfizer and BioNTech to be available for children aged 5 to 11 years, and the COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna for children aged 6 to 17 years, with pending US FDA authorization.
The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is already authorized as a booster dose for children older than 12 years while the bivalent vaccine of Moderna is authorized for adults. The government of the United States has ordered more than 170 million updated COVID-19 booster shots, and has spent over 25 million doses of the vaccine.
