With the approval of new bivalent COVID-19 boosters for 5–11-year-olds that target the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron variants and the original strain of the virus, Mayo Clinic will defer appointments for booster vaccinations for children 5 to 11 as it awaits supply of the vaccine.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has approved expanding the use of the new bivalent COVID-19 booster vaccines to children 5–11 years old. This comes after the Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization for updated Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 boosters. Approval for use of the initial COVID-19 vaccine as a booster has been withdrawn.

The new boosters have been approved for use in children 5–11 who are at least two months past the completion of their primary series or any prior booster.

Mayo Clinic will defer booster appointments in this age group until a supply of the new booster is available.

Mayo Clinic anticipates having the new bivalent booster by the week of Oct. 25 or sooner.

"The approval of the bivalent booster for this age group is good news for families,"  says Dr. Nipunie Rajapakse, a pediatric infectious diseases physician with the Mayo Clinic Children's Center. "It means more school-age children will be eligible for the bivalent booster going into the fall and winter respiratory virus season, and provide them with a boost in their protection against the currently circulating COVID-19 variants, helping reduce COVID-19 spread in schools and the community."

The original COVID-19 Moderna and Pfizer vaccines continue to be authorized to be administered as a primary series for children 6 months to 4 years of age.

Read more about the new bivalent boosters:

• Questions answered about the COVID-19 bivalent booster vaccines.

---

Information in this post was accurate at the time of its posting. Due to the fluid nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientific understanding, along with guidelines and recommendations, may have changed since the original publication date. 

Related Articles