COVID-19 Booster Shot Available in Washington for 5-11 Year-Olds

Booster doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine are now available for children ages 5-11 in Washington.

The State Department of Health expanded booster dose eligibility, after recommendations on the federal level and the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup.

A release from the Department of Health said, "the myth that COVID-19 is always a mild disease in children needs to be dispelled."

It included a statistic showing more than 4.8 million children ages 5-11 having been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, with 15,000 hospitalized and, tragically, 180 deceased.

The Pfizer booster vaccine is now available in Washington State to anyone five and older.

DOH’s updated booster dose recommendations are as follows:

• Children ages 5-11 should receive a booster dose five months after completing their primary vaccine series of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Immunocompromised children should receive their booster at least three months after their primary series.
• Everyone 12 and older should receive a booster dose five months after completing their primary vaccine series of Pfizer or Moderna, or two months after receiving the single-shot Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine.
• Everyone 50 and older should receive a second booster dose four months after receiving their first booster dose.
• Individuals 12 and older who are moderately or severely immunocompromised should receive a second booster dose four months after receiving their first booster dose.
• Those 18 and older who received a primary vaccine and booster dose of the J&J vaccine four months ago can receive a second booster dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.

Federal recommendations are from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.