The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday recommended a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot for children as young as 5, aimed at the Omicron variant, hours after the Food and Drug Administration authorized the shot.
The big picture: The announcement comes as the White House continues to monitor a rise in the COVID-19 subvariants emerging and evolving throughout the world.
- CDC Director Rochelle Walensky signed off on a decision memo expanding the use of the shots without waiting for a meeting of the CDC’s advisory committee, CNBC reports.
- With approval from the CDC and the FDA, pharmacies can now begin administering the shots as soon as they’ve received the dose shipments.
Details: The FDA’s emergency use authorizations apply to the Moderna and Pfizer bivalent vaccines.