US health officials today approved Pfizer and Moderna‘s bivalent Covid vaccines for babies, in a move bound to draw criticism.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has green-lit plans for the updated shots to be given as part of a three-dose course for children aged six months to four years.
Agency officials said they ‘encourage parents and caregivers’ to get their child vaccinated ‘especially as we head into the holidays and winter months’.
It comes after a study found the bivalent vaccines are significantly weaker against a rising Covid variant expected to become dominant in the US in months.
Pre-school-aged children were already allowed to receive three extra-small doses of Pfizer’s original Covid vaccine, instead of the standard two-dose regimen for adults.
The move will see them given the Omicron-specific booster – made by either Pfizer of Moderna – as their third and final shot.
Officials recommend the children to receive the bivalent shot from the same brand they received their first two vaccine shots from.
So a child who receive the Pfizer vaccine for their first two doses should get the Pfizer bivalent shot as well.
Hellbound and Down 