COVID Booster For GA Kids Gets FDA OK: What It Means

GEORGIA — As the latest coronavirus omicron variant pushes cases and deaths up in Georgia, children ages 5 to 11 could soon be able to receive COVID-19 booster shots around the country.

According to a Washington Post COVID tracker, Georgia has seen a 42 percent increase in the number of COVID cases statewide in the last seven days.

The FDA amended the emergency authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine Tuesday, authorizing the booster dose for kids between 5-11. It’s the first step in a process that could make the shots available to Georgia’s kids later this week.

Under the FDA authorization, the booster can be given at least five months after the kids completed the initial vaccine series.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel of outside experts, is expected to sanction the boosters Thursday, and CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky is expected to give her approval soon after.

At the same time, the federal government is giving away a third round of free COVID-19 tests. The program now offers eight tests to be delivered by the U.S. Postal Service.

Health experts say the new subvariant, known as BA.2.12.1, is particularly worrisome because it is more transmissible than other highly contagious omicron subvariants, and because it’s able to evade antibodies built up from vaccines or previous infections.

According to the CDC, Georgia and Florida are seeing more cases of the new BA.2.12.1 variant than other types of the coronavirus. As of May 14, 52.4 percent of the COVID cases in those states are the new variant; 47.1 percent of cases are the earlier BA.2 variant; and .4 percent are the B.1.1.529 variant.

The Georgia COVID dashboard — which is only updated once a week on Wednesdays — said that on May 11 the state had recorded 12,234 cases of COVID in the previous two weeks.

A total of 31,693 Georgians have died during the two years of the pandemic.

Last week's report showed 6,989 confirmed cases, 71 deaths and 368 Georgians hospitalized for COVID-19.

Residents can schedule a COVID vaccination or booster near them via https://gta-vras.powerappsportals.us/ or https://vaccinefinder.org/.

Pfizer-BioNTech said last month that a clinical trial involving 140 children showed the booster shot improves children’s immunity both against the original strain of the coronavirus and the omicron variant.

The effectiveness of vaccines wanes over time, and children between 5 and 11 would become the youngest Americans eligible to get the extra level of protection with the approval of the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration.

That leaves children under 5 as the only Americans for whom vaccines are not available. Both Pfizer and Moderna have clinical trials underway to determine the best vaccine regimen for babies, toddlers and preschoolers.

Pfizer paused its application for approval of the vaccine for children under 5 after the FDA asked for more data. Moderna has asked regulators to approve vaccines for young children.

In March, regulators approved a second COVID-19 booster shot for people 50 and older.