Pfizer requested emergency use authorization for its updated COVID-19 booster shot targeting the Omicron variant in kids ages 5 to 11 on Monday.
The latest booster shot, which contains half the original formula and half targeting omicron, was rolled out for everyone ages 12 and older earlier this month.
Children younger than 12 years old receive just 10 micrograms per dose, about a third of the shot that teenagers and adults get.
A student gets vaccinated with a dose of Pfizer's COVID vaccine, which they say is 73.2% effective in children under 5. (REUTERS/Eloisa Lope / Reuters Photos)
Only about 4.4 million Americans have received the omicron booster since it was approved on Sept. 1, according to CDC data.
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Families have also not been rushing out to get their youngest children primary doses of the vaccine. Only about 38.4% of children between the ages of 5 and 11 have received at least one dose, while just 31.4% are fully vaccinated.
Nurse Lydia Holly prepares a child's COVID-19 vaccine dose, on Nov. 3, 2021, at Children's National Hospital in Washington. U.S. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File / AP Newsroom)
The rollout of the omicron vaccines for elementary school-aged children comes as President Joe Biden declared the pandemic over.
"We still have a problem with COVID. We’re still doing a lot of work on it. But the pandemic is over," Biden told 60 Minutes in an interview that aired about one week ago.
"If you notice, no one’s wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape. And so I think it’s changing."