FDA Approves Yet Another COVID-19 Booster Targeting Latest Variant

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved new guidelines that allow children as young as five years old to get the COVID-19 booster shot, according to a Monday press release.

The new guidelines were authorized this week to “more closely target currently circulating variants and to provide better protection against serious consequences of COVID-19,” according to the press release. As a result, the agency announced that it would be approving “a single dose of an updated mRNA COVID-19 vaccine” for children as young as five at least two months after they had received any other COVID-19 vaccine.

“Vaccination remains critical to public health and continued protection against serious consequences of COVID-19, including hospitalization and death,” Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in the press release. “The public can be assured that these updated vaccines have met the agency’s rigorous scientific standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality. We very much encourage those who are eligible to consider getting vaccinated.”

Children 6 months and up to 4 years old that have been vaccinated previously against COVID-19 are also now eligible to receive one to two doses of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine booster, according to the press release. Children in the same age range can obtain two to three doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, or alternatively, two doses of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine booster.