CDC OKs Booster For Immunocompromised Children

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week recommended immunocompromised children between 5 and 11 receive a booster COVID-19 vaccine dose 28 days after their second dose.

The Pfizer vaccine is the only one authorized for children between 5 and 11.

“Following the FDA’s authorizations, today’s recommendations ensure people are able to get a boost of protection in the face of Omicron and increasing cases across the country and ensure that the most vulnerable children can get an additional dose to optimize protection against COVID-19,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said. “If you or your children are eligible for a third dose or a booster, please go out and get one as soon as you can.”

The new guidance came as the CDC also recommended people who received the Pfizer vaccine get a booster five months rather than six months after their second dose. 

For more information about the CDC guidelines, visit their website.

In other news:

• After the CDC updated the recommended isolation guidelines to five days for those who were diagnosed with COVID-19 but are asymptomatic followed by wearing a mask around others for the next five days, the Texas Education Agency’s updated guidance says staff members can return to school after five days if asymptomatic or if symptoms are resolving. The 10-day Department of State Health Services isolation rule for students who test positive, though, was unchanged for now. Read more from the Dallas Morning News.
• UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers are studying a polyclonal antibody treatment for COVID-19 early in infection in an effort to keep people with the virus out of the hospital. Read more from the Dallas Morning News here.
• COVID-19 case numbers and hospitalizations continue to soar. The number of Texans testing positive for the virus each day is at an all-time high, reaching a seven-day average of almost 44,000 confirmed cases on Friday. Read more from the Texas Tribune here.