WASHINGTON – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved an updated COVID-19 vaccine designed to ease severe symptoms of the virus ahead of cold and flu season.
The new booster shots from Moderna and Pfizer follow a summer of rising COVID-19 cases and are designed to better combat the variants currently circulating.
Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a written statement that vaccination “remains the cornerstone of COVID-19 prevention.”
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“These updated vaccines meet the agency’s rigorous scientific standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality,” Marks said. “Given the waning population immunity from previous exposure to the virus and from previous vaccinations, we strongly recommend that everyone who is eligible receive an updated COVID-19 vaccine to provide greater protection against the variants currently circulating.”
Wastewater monitoring has been steadily increasing since early May and may increase even further now that children across the country are returning to school.
Emergency room visits also began to rise in May. And while the death rate from COVID-19 steadily declined in the first half of the year, it began to rise slightly again in June, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The FDA announcement states that three doses of the updated Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine or two doses of the updated Moderna vaccine are approved for unvaccinated children between the ages of six months and four years.
Children between six months and four years of age who have already received their COVID-19 vaccine are eligible to receive one or two doses or one of the updated vaccines. Dosage will depend on the timing and number of doses of their previous vaccination.
Children aged 5 to 11 years can receive a single dose of the updated vaccine, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated before or not. If a child in this age group has been vaccinated against COVID-19, they must wait at least two months before receiving the updated dose.
Anyone over 12 years of age is entitled to a single dose of the updated vaccine if they have already been vaccinated before. In addition, they must wait at least two months after the last vaccination.
Pfizer wrote in a statement that delivery of its “vaccine will begin immediately and will be available in pharmacies, hospitals and clinics across the United States starting in the next few days.”
Moderna expects its updated vaccine to be “available in pharmacies and care facilities in the coming days.”
