Evansville doctors react to FDA giving green light on COVID boosters for kids as young as 5

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed off on approved COVID-19 booster shots for children as young as 5 years old.

The new booster targets Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5.

According to the CDC, BA.5 is the dominant strain in the U.S., making up about 79% of all new COVID cases.

Dr. David Schultz with Evansville Primary Care says it’s welcome news for helping stop the spread.

“First of all, children tend to spread the virus much more rapidly, and that is because they have more mucus in their respiratory tracts, and they tend to not cover their mouth and sneeze without covering their nose,” says Schultz.

He says the shots aren’t just for mitigating the spread of COVID-19 amongst children though.

“The second reason is because children are often cared for by older adults, and it’s the exposure to older adults that also spreads the disease quite rapidly,” says Schultz.

Dr. Schultz says only about 33% of children are vaccinated against COVID-19, but these booster shots should be more effective than any seen so far against the strains that are prominent right now.

It’s a massive development, according to Schultz.

“We have a tool that can drastically continue to decrease the numbers that we’re seeing,” says Schultz.

So who exactly is eligible?

Dr. Schultz says for the Pfizer booster, it’s approved for ages five and older.

For the Moderna vaccine, the shot is approved for children ages six and up.

While they don’t perform COVID immunizations at Evansville Primary Care, Dr. Schultz says he still recommends anybody who’s been vaccinated to get the booster.

For anybody who hasn’t received the original vaccine, he says it’s not too late and should still go get it.

Dr. Schultz says even if you or your child haven’t had a booster before, that’s okay.

As long as you’ve got the original vaccine, you can skip all of the other boosters and just get this one, you don’t necessarily have to go in order.

Copyright 2022 WFIE. All rights reserved.