C.D.C. Advisers Recommend Pfizer Boosters for Children 5 to 11

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to the numbers of children aged 5 to 11 with multisystem inflammatory syndrome. About 4,000 have been diagnosed, not died, with the syndrome.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday recommended a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. Children in this age group who received their last dose at least five months earlier are eligible to receive the additional doses immediately.

“Vaccination with a primary series among this age group has lagged behind other age groups, leaving them vulnerable to serious illness,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the C.D.C., said.

“With over 18 million doses administered in this age group, we know that these vaccines are safe, and we must continue to increase the number of children who are protected.”

The booster shot would be the third dose available for most children and the fourth dose for some immunocompromised children.

A booster dose will offer children an extra layer of protection at a time when infections and hospitalizations are once again rising nationally, scientific advisers to the agency concluded at a meeting on Thursday.

“It is sobering that we have experienced over a million deaths in the U.S. as a consequence of Covid infection,” Dr. Grace Lee, a pediatrician at Stanford University and chair of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which sets recommendations for the use of vaccines, told other panel members.

In November, the committee recommended booster shots for adults and in January did so for children 12 and older.

Pfizer and BioNTech reported in April that in children aged 5 to 11, a third dose generated antibodies against both the Omicron variant and the original version of the coronavirus. In the trial, the children received 10 micrograms of vaccine — one-third of the dose given to adolescents and adults — in each shot.

As with the first two doses, the booster appeared safe, the companies reported. The most commonly reported side effects were pain, redness and swelling at the injection site as well as aches, chills and fever.

Based on these data, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the boosters for children aged 5 to 11 on Tuesday.

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