FDA approves omicron vaccine for babies as young as 6 months old

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday authorized the update Covid injections targeting the omicron variant for children as young as 6 months old.

Eligibility rules vary depending on whether children receive it modernof or Pfizertheir original vaccine as their main series.

Here are the eligibility criteria:

• Children 6 months to 5 years of age who received two basic doses of Moderna are now eligible for a booster shot of omicron two months after the second injection.

• Children 6 months to 4 years of age who have not received the third dose of Pfizer’s main series will now receive omicron as the third dose.

• However, children of the same age who have completed the primary three-dose series of Pfizer cannot receive omicron as a booster or fourth dose at this time.

In a statement, the FDA said it is not authorizing omicron injections for children who have received three doses of Pfizer’s vaccine because the agency is still awaiting data to support the booster dose. That data is expected in January, and the FDA will review it as quickly as possible, the agency said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention need to approve the shots before pharmacies and doctors can start using them.

Peter Marks, the FDA’s head of vaccines, told parents in a statement that the agency carefully reviewed the shots before allowing them. Dr. Robert Califf, the head of the FDA, said it is important for people to keep their vaccination schedules up to date this winter as immunity against the virus wanes.

“As this virus has changed and immunity to the previous COVID-19 vaccine wanes, the more people update their COVID-19 vaccination schedule, the more benefits it will have for them.” individuals, families and public health by helping to prevent serious illness, hospitalizations and deaths,” Califf said in a statement.

The authorizations come amid an increase in Covid cases and hospital admissions following the Thanksgiving holiday. U.S. health officials are strongly encouraging all people who are eligible to get vaccinated against Covid and flu as respiratory viruses increase this season, straining hospital emergency departments institute.

The new injections target the omicron subvariant BA.5 and the original Covid strain. U.S. health officials expect the new shots to offer superior protection over the original vaccines, which only targeted the original Covid strain. But efficacy and immune response data are available for adults have been mixed.

Omicron BA.5 has been replaced by sub-variants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, which combined now account for the majority of infections in the United States New shots likely won’t perform well against the sub-variables BQ compared with BA.5 because they are more likely to evade immunity, although they are still expected to provide good protection against severe disease.

The FDA approved the shots based on adult immune response data to similar vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna targeting the original omicron BA.1 variant. Safety data are also based on BA.1 clinical trial data as well as previous trials that evaluated the primary vaccine as a booster vaccine.