CDC approves COVID-19 booster for children ages 5 through 11
Etta Fisher of Great Neck receives her COVID-19 vaccine on Nov. 3, 2021, from Dr. Adina Geller in Levittown. Credit: Howard Schnapp
A COVID-19 booster shot for children between the ages of 5 and 11 will be available on Long Island after the CDC on Thursday approved the extra shot.
"We know that these vaccines are safe, and we must continue to increase the number of children who are protected," Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, said in a statement.
Medical experts on Long Island hailed the approval of the Pfizer booster as the latest step forward in the fight to control the virus, while health systems and other providers said they planned to quickly offer the booster to the age group.
Experts pointed out that vaccination rates for children ages 5 to 11 remain low.
WHAT TO KNOW
- The CDC approved a COVID-19 booster shot for children between the ages of 5 and 11.
- Health care systems, including Northwell, along with pharmacies and primary care pediatricians will distribute the shots.
- Vaccine rates are lagging: Only about 33% of children in that age group on Long Island are eligible for the booster after receiving the first two shots.
“I think it is wonderful,” said Dr. Catherine Caronia, Catholic Health’s chairman of pediatrics. The booster will help children “continue to move forward and lead what normal childhood experiences should be.”
Dr. Matthew Harris, medical director of the Northwell Health vaccine program, said approval of the booster is coming at a welcome time because COVID-19 indicators have been rising while mitigation measures such as masking have largely dropped.
“This is really the strongest tool we have to continue to keep this patient population safe and protected from serious illness and hospitalization,” said Harris, who is also a pediatric emergency doctor at Cohen Children’s Medical Center.
COVID-19 cases have increased on Long Island, now classified as a “high transmission” area by the CDC, its highest risk category. But hospitalizations and deaths have remained relatively stable and low, experts said. And more people are now vaccinated and boosted.
Gov. Kathy Hochul hailed the CDC's move and said the state health department would be providing the public with guidance as well.
Catholic Health, Northwell, Stony Brook Medicine and Mt. Sinai South Nassau also said they would start offering the booster shots.
They will also be distributed at pharmacies and primary care pediatricians' offices across Long Island.
They would be given at least five months after children in the 5-to-11 age group have received their first two shots, officials said.
The FDA approved the booster on Tuesday, leaving the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to make a final approval. A scientific advisory panel to the CDC recommended it earlier Thursday.
Whether there will be demand for it remains an open question.
On Long Island, about 33% of children in the 5 to 11 age group have received both shots and are eligible for the booster, according to state and federal data. That's compared to numbers in the 70s and 80s for most groups of teenagers and adults.
The statewide rate for the primary series of shots for children between the ages of 5 and 11 is about 37%, according to state and federal data.
The national rate for the primary series of shots is even lower for 5-to-11 year olds, about 29%, according to the CDC.
The CDC on Thursday also "strengthened another booster recommendation," Walensky said in the statement — that those 12 and older who are immunocompromised receive a second booster, as well as anyone age 50 and older, at least four months after the prior shot.
