Vaccines

American children ages 6 months through 4 years recently became eligible to receive coronavirus vaccinations, after federal regulators and health officials cleared vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech for very young children.

U.S. health authorities are facing a critical decision: whether to offer new COVID-19 booster shots this fall that are modified to better match recent changes of the shape-shifting coronavirus.

When the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) meets at the end of June to discuss whether the vaccine should be modified before the likely rollout of more booster shots in the fall, it will have to make decisions without knowing how the virus will continue to change.

Three doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine offer strong protection for children younger than 5, the company announced Monday, another step toward shots for the littlest kids possibly beginning in early summer.

Since the Omicron wave crested in January, multiple studies and datasets have demonstrated that the mRNA vaccines are not nearly as effective against this variant as they were against earlier variants or the original virus.

According to the CDC, Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine boosters are preferred for individuals who received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot.

Adults 50 and older can now roll up their sleeves for a second COVID-19 booster, as can younger individuals with certain immune-compromising conditions.

More than 16 million Americans rolled up their sleeves last year to get Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine because it promised to be a "one and done" shot, but newer information and booster authorizations suggest they should consider a third dose.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) agreed with the FDA and has updated its vaccine recommendations to include a second booster.

On Tuesday, the FDA announced that it has expanded the emergency use authorization for the two vaccines to allow adults 50 and older to get a second booster as early as fourth months after their first booster dose.

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorized an extra dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine for Americans 50 and older and for certain younger people with severely weakened immune systems.

The coronavirus vaccines most widely used in the United States remained highly effective at preventing the worst outcomes from infections even in the face of the highly transmissible Omicron variant in January, a report released Friday by federal disease trackers shows.