Bivalent COVID-19 boosters are recommended for children five years and older
Posted on October 12, 2022 in COVID-19, Newsroom
HONOLULU – The Department of Health (DOH) recommends bivalent COVID-19 booster shots for everyone over the age of five. The bivalent boosters are the first COVID-19 vaccines specifically designed to protect against the original COVID-19 and the most common forms of COVID-19 in Hawaii, the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants.
The BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants account for nearly all cases of COVID-19 in Hawaii.
“This is great news for parents who want to protect their young children. Bivalent boosters were already available to everyone over the age of 12. Now children ages 5 to 11 can also benefit from these new boosters,” said Dr. Elizabeth Char, state health director, FACEP.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued Emergency Use Authorization for the bivalent booster manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech for children ages 5 through 11 years and the bivalent booster manufactured by Moderna for children and adolescents ages 6 through 17 years. Shortly thereafter, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the DOH recommended bivalent boosters for everyone over the age of five.
The new bivalent vaccines will be administered as a single booster dose to those who have previously completed a primary series of COVID-19 vaccines and to those who have received one or two booster doses. Bivalent boosters can only be given if at least two months have passed since a person’s most recent vaccination.
Individuals can select a booster from Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna, regardless of the brand of vaccine they have previously received.
Find information about providers and the services they offer at vaccines.gov or by visiting the Vaccine Finder Map at https://hawaiicovid19.com/vaccine/.
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PDF: Recommended COVID-19 Bivalent Boosters for Children Five Years and Older
