U.S. CDC advisers recommend COVID booster for children 5-11

Scientific advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday recommended a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the agency’s director, is expected to sign off quickly on the committee’s recommendation. Children in this age group who received their last dose at least five months earlier will then be eligible to receive booster doses immediately.

The booster shot would be the third dose available for most children, and the fourth dose for immunocompromised children.

The experts said a booster would offer children an extra layer of protection at a time when infections and hospitalizations are once again rising nationally.

“It is sobering that we have experienced over a million deaths in the U.S. as a consequence of Covid infection,” Dr. Grace Lee, a pediatrician at Stanford University and chair of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which sets recommendations for the use of vaccines, told other panel members.

In November, the committee recommended booster shots for adults, and in January for children 12 and older.

Pfizer and BioNTech reported in April that in children aged 5 to 11, a third dose generated antibodies against both the Omicron variant and the original version of the coronavirus. In the trial, the children received 10 micrograms of vaccine — one-third of the dose given to adolescents and adults — in each shot.

As with the first two doses, the booster appeared safe, the companies reported. The most commonly reported side effects were pain, redness and swelling at the injection site, as well as aches, chills and fever.

Based on these data, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the boosters for children aged 5 to 11 on Tuesday. ...