Dec. 5, 2022 — Pfizer and its partner BioNTech applied Monday to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization for a bivalent COVID-19 booster for children 6 months to 4 years old, Pfizer said in a news release.
If approved, children in that age range who had received a primary series of vaccines could then receive the bivalent booster shot. Pfizer’s bivalent booster contains two strains of vaccine – one to protect against the original COVID-19 virus and another targeting Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.
“With the high level of respiratory illnesses currently circulating among children under 5 years of age, updated COVID-19 vaccines may help prevent severe illness and hospitalization.” Pfizer said in the release.
The bivalent booster has already been authorized by the United States and the European Union for children 5 and older. Pfizer says it is talking with the European Medicines Agency to authorize the bivalent booster to the EU for children under 5.
Though the bivalent booster was designed to fight the once-dominant BA.4 and BA.5, Pfizer says it also offers protection against surging Omicron subvariants like BQ.1.1 and BQ.1.
According to information posted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Protection on Saturday, BA.5 now accounts for only 13.8% of cases while BQ.1.1 accounts for 31.9% and its cousin BQ.1 for 30.9%.
The bivalent boosters are not catching on with the American public. The CDC says only 12.7 % of people over 5 have gotten the booster, compared to 72.9% over 5 who have completed a primary series.
