Kids as young as 5 can soon get updated COVID boosters in U.S.

U.S. health regulators authorized the use of Omicron-tailored COVID-19 booster shots from Moderna and Pfizer in children as young as five, a move that will expand the U.S. government's fall vaccination campaign.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday greenlighted Moderna's bivalent vaccine for those aged six and above, while Pfizer's updated shot was authorized in children aged five and above.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also backed the FDA's authorization, clearing the way for the shots to be administered in children.

The redesigned bivalent booster shots from both Moderna and Pfizer target the original version as well as the BA.4 and the currently dominant BA.5 subvariants of Omicron.

"Since children have gone back to school in person and people are resuming pre-pandemic behaviours and activities, there is the potential for increased risk of exposure to the virus," said Peter Marks, head of FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

In Canada, at least 88 per cent of those age fiveand older received at least one dose.Overall, COVID-19 vaccination rates in the United States have stayed low among kids.

The BA.5 subvariant of Omicron currently remains the dominant strain, accounting for nearly 79 per centof the cases in the United States.

Rising indicators in Europe

Meanwhile, another wave of COVID-19 infectionsmay have begun in Europe as cases begin to tick up across the
region, the World Health Organization (WHO) and European Centre forDisease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said on Wednesday.

"Although we are not where we were one year ago, it is clearthat the COVID-19 pandemic is still not over," WHO's Europedirector, Hans Kluge, and ECDC's director, Andrea Ammon, said ina joint statement.

"We are unfortunately seeing indicators rising again inEurope, suggesting that another wave of infections has begun."

WHO's regional data showed that only Europe recorded arise in COVID-19 cases in the week ended Oct. 2, clocking anincrease of eight per centfrom the prior week.

Public health experts have warned that vaccine fatigue andconfusion over available vaccines will likely limit booster
uptake in Europe.

Millions of people across Europe remain unvaccinated againstCOVID-19, the WHO and ECDC noted.

They urged European countries to administer both flu andCOVID-19 vaccines ahead of an expected surge in cases ofseasonal influenza.

"There was no time to lose," the WHO and ECDC said, addingthat vulnerable groups, including people over 60 years old,pregnant women and those with comorbidities, should getvaccinated against both influenza and COVID-19.