Children between six months and 5 years old are now eligible for the latest COVID-19 booster shots.
The bivalent boosters are now available for young children in northern Michigan after the FDA approved them last week. They’re specialized to protect against more than just the original strain of the virus.
“It will include that omicron variant that’s causing a lot of the severe illness,” said Bethanie Dean, immunizations coordinator for District Health Department #10, which serves 10 counties from Crawford to Oceana.
Dean said parents who’ve already had their children vaccinated are likely to seek out the new boosters.
“The rates of this age group for the original COVID vaccine series were low,” said Dean. “But I hope that we’ll see a larger increase in people starting their series as we move into the winter months with flu and everything else that’s going on.”
Dean said her department has a limited availability of the Moderna vaccine, but plenty of Pfizer to go around.
Parents looking to schedule a vaccination for their children can visit dhd10.org/schedule. They can also visit a pharmacy or their primary care provider.
