Updated COVID Boosters Available To VA Children As Young As 6 Months

VIRGINIA — Younger groups of children are now eligible for the COVID-19 bivalent booster, an updated vaccine targeting subvariants of the omicron variant.

The Virginia Department of Health said Wednesday children below age 5 and as young as 6 months can receive the free booster from Moderna or Pfizer. The younger group is now eligible for the bivalent booster in addition to adults and children ages 5 and up.

The bivalent dose is only available to the younger group who received their initial two-dose vaccine; children between 6 months and 4 years who received three Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses are not authorized to receive a bivalent vaccine booster.

The Pfizer bivalent vaccine was previously offered to people 5 and older, while the Moderna vaccine was previously available to people 6 and older. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expanded eligibility on Dec. 9 following Food and Drug Administration authorization.

The updated COVID-19 boosters specifically address the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of the omicron variant that first appeared in November 2021, as well as the original strain of COVID-19 that appeared in Wuhan, China in late 2019. The omicron variant caused the post-winter holiday surge in early 2022, resulting in the largest rate of cases in Virginia to date.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the updated boosters target variants that are more easily spread and immune-evading.

"We encourage parents and caregivers of those eligible to consider doing so – especially as we head into the holidays and winter months, where more time will be spent indoors,” said FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, M.D., in a Dec. 8 statement. "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."

The CDC noted many U.S. children in the 6 months to 5 years age group have not received any COVID-19 vaccine doses.

In Virginia, the state's health department reports that 13.4 percent of the 0 to 4 age group has received at least one dose. That's 60,871 of an estimated 454,589 in this age group. By comparison, 47.1 percent of the 5 to 11 age group have at least one dose in Virginia, 76.3 percent of children 12 to 15 have at least a dose, and 78.5 percent of children 16 to 17 have at least one dose.

The CDC and Virginia Department of Health encourage parents to talk to their child's health care provider about the vaccine. Search for vaccine availability at vaccinate.virginia.gov or www.vaccines.gov.