US CDC recommends booster shots for kids aged 5 to 11

WASHINGTON • The United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended Covid-19 vaccine boosters for children aged five to 11 at least five months after they complete the primary vaccination course. This came after an advisory panel voted to back booster shots for that age group.

CDC director Rochelle Walensky said on Thursday that she endorsed the vote by the Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices "to expand eligibility for Covid-19 vaccine booster doses. Children five through 11 should receive a booster dose at least five months after their primary series".

"With over 18 million doses administered in this age group, we know that these vaccines are safe, and we must continue to increase the number of children who are protected," she said.

The advisers considered data from the CDC that showed protection from the initial two shots starts to wane over time, and that boosters in older age groups improved efficacy against severe Covid-19 and hospitalisations.

The US Food and Drug Administration authorised booster doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for five-to 11-year-olds on Tuesday as Covid-19 cases are on the rise again in the US.

The government has been pushing for eligible Americans to get boosted, but fewer than half of those who are fully vaccinated have rolled up their sleeves for an additional shot.

Pfizer said data showed that a third dose of its vaccine generated a strong immune response against the Omicron variant in healthy children aged five to 11 years.

The CDC also presented safety data showing that the incidence of heart inflammation after vaccination in the age group was significantly lower than in adolescents and young adults.

Just over 29 per cent of US children aged five to 11 are considered fully vaccinated with two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot. The vaccine is not yet authorised for those younger than five.

The committee voted 11-to-one to recommend the additional shots, with one doctor abstaining.

Associate Professor Helen Keipp Talbot of Vanderbilt University was the lone committee member to vote against recommending the boosters, arguing that the focus should be on increasing the vaccination rate in the age group. Boosters are great once everyone has received the first round, she said.

Companies are already looking into the possible need for redesigned Covid-19 vaccines to target new variants of concern.

CDC scientist Amanda Cohn said redesigned vaccines may not be available for children right away because the paediatric shots are a different formulation from what would be given to adults.

REUTERS