Bivalent COVID-19 Boosters for Ages 5-11 Authorized

On October 12, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provided emergency use authorization for the updated COVID-19 boosters from Pfizer/BioNTech for children 5-11 years old and Moderna for people ages 6-17. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) have issued endorsements.

With updated, bivalent COVID-19 boosters on the way, the FDA has halted the use of existing boosters in children between the ages of 5 and 11. Sedgwick County Health Department (SCHD) staff anticipates the bivalent boosters for this age group will arrive locally no sooner than the week of October 24.

Until that time, SCHD’s mobile vaccine clinics and its W. Central clinic will offer only first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccine to this age group. SCHD will contact affected clients at its W. Central clinic to reschedule. 

The updated vaccines are called “bivalent” because they target both the original coronavirus and Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5. Recent KDHE data show the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants currently cause almost all new COVID-19 infections in Kansas.

Visit www.sedgwickcounty.org/covid-19 for updates on the local availability of bivalent boosters for this group.

For a list of upcoming SCHD mobile vaccine clinics, click here.