A Guide to COVID-19 Vaccines for the Youngest Kids
Children under 5, including those as young as 6 months of age, are now able to be vaccinated against COVID-19 — a year and a half after vaccines were first authorized for adults.
Here, we explain what’s known about the two coronavirus vaccines for the youngest children, and how they’re different from their adult and older kid counterparts.
Quick Summary
Pfizer/BioNTech |
Moderna |
|
Population |
6 months through 4 years | 6 months through 5 years |
Dose |
3 doses of 3 micrograms
3-8 weeks apart |
2 doses of 25 micrograms
4 weeks apart |
Effectiveness |
Comparable immune response to young adults | Comparable immune response to young adults
50.6% efficacy against symptomatic disease for 6- to 23-month-olds 36.8% efficacy for 2- to 5-year-olds |
Safety |
No serious safety concerns identified in trials | |
After more than a year of waiting, the last segment of the U.S. population without an authorized COVID-19 vaccine now has two vaccine options: one from Pfizer/BioNTech, for kids 6 months through 4 years of age, and another from Moderna, for kids 6 months through 5 years of age.
Both vaccines are messenger RNA, or mRNA, vaccines. These work by providing cells the instructions to make the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, which the immune system responds to by generating protective antibodies and activating T cells. But the little kid versions contain less mRNA than those for older kids and adults.
The Food and Drug Administration granted the two pediatric vaccines emergency use authorization, or EUA, on June 17, after concluding that based on the collective evidence to date, the known and potential benefits outweigh the known and potential risks. An independent panel of experts advising the agency agreed in unanimous 21-to-0 votes backing both vaccines.
An outside group of experts advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention then recommended the vaccines for young children on June 18. The agency endorsed that decision the same day, allowing young children to be immunized starting on June 21.
When it made a decision on Moderna’s shot for little kids, the FDA also granted an EUA to the company’s vaccine for kids 6 to 11 years old and for the adult version to be given to kids 12 and over. Previously, the only vaccine available to Americans below the age of 18 for the primary series, or initial set of shots, was the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, including the company’s vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds.
