The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the updated COVID vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna. The vaccines are designed to target one of the latest variants of the virus. With the current summer surge in cases and the usual winter wave on the horizon, health officials recommend the vaccine for everyone age 6 months and older.
Children aged 6 months to 4 years who have never received a COVID shot may receive two doses of Moderna’s vaccine or three doses of Pfizer’s vaccine. Vaccinated children in this same age-group are eligible to get either one or two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, depending on when and how many doses they got previously. Individuals with compromised immune systems and people who haven’t received at least three-dose series of prior versions of the vaccines could be eligible for more than one dose of the updated vaccine.
Moderna and Pfizer have begun to ship the vaccines to drug stores and the companies expect them to be available “in the coming days”.
