On October 12, 2022 the FDA and CDC expanded the emergency use authorization of both the Pfizer and Moderna Bivalent Booster, or updated booster vaccines to include children younger than 12. This is following the decision at the end of August to approve the bivalent Pfizer booster for patients over 12, and the bivalent Moderna booster for patients over 18.
With this new authorization, the bivalent Pfizer vaccine is now approved for children 5-11 and the bivalent Moderna vaccine is approved for 6-17 year olds.
Both vaccines are approved for use in children at least two months following either their primary series of either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, or two months following their booster shot.
Like the bivalent booster previously approved for those 12 and up for Pfizer and 18 and up for Moderna, these vaccines contain mRNA components of both the original vaccine and the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of Omicron, which are expected to cause the most issues this coming fall and winter.
With this authorization, the monovalent vaccines are no longer authorized for booster doses in children 5 and up. Both vaccines are still able to be used for a primary series in children 6 months old and older.
We will offer the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. It is now available for our patients who meet the criteria above.
If you have specific questions or concerns about the vaccine and would like to discuss with your provider, we encourage you to schedule a telemedicine appointment.
To schedule your vaccine, please call the office at 978-774-2555.