Omicron Vaccine Can be Given to as Young as 6 Months: CDC

(CTN News) – The omicron vaccine was approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday, allowing pharmacists and doctors to begin giving the doses to infants as young as six months old.

Children ages 6 months through 5 years old who received the two-dose Moderna can now get an omicron vaccine.

Children who got the two-dose Moderna main series between 6 months and 5 years may now get an omicron vaccine two months following their second dose.

The omicron injection will be administered as the third dose to children finishing the Pfizer main series between 6 months and 4 years.

The CDC followed suit one day after the Food and Drug Administration awarded its clearance. Before the agency provided the get-ahead, the CDC’s independent panel of vaccination experts did not convene to review the information.

In a message sent to parents on Thursday, Dr. Peter Marks, chairman of the FDA’s omicron vaccine division, said the organization thoroughly examined the evidence before approving the vaccinations for the youngest children.

According to Marks, the omicron vaccine continue to be the strongest line of protection against the most severe effects of illness brought on by the presently circulating omicron form, such as hospitalization and death.

Parents and caregivers may rest easy knowing that the FDA carefully reviewed the product.

After the Thanksgiving break, Covid infections and hospitalizations have risen in the US as subvariants that may more readily circumvent immunity have taken control.

Hospitalizations of children under the age of 4 increased five times during the omicron wave last winter compared to the peak of the preceding delta wave.

According to the CDC, most kids aged 5 and younger have not even had one dose of a Covid vaccination. According to the organization, 95% of kids are either unvaccinated or haven’t finished their first round of immunizations.

The CDC stated on Friday that it worked with parents to increase their trust in immunizations. It advised parents to discuss their children’s immunization schedule with their physicians.

The BA.5 subvariant and the original strain of Covid are both targets of the omicron bullets.

Although smaller independent trials revealed they weren’t significantly better, data from Pfizer and Moderna suggest that they do so better in adults than the old injections.

The injections are usually expected to reduce hospitalizations, but they probably won’t work as effectively to treat minor illnesses.

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