On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s expert vaccine specialists recommended that children 5 and 11 years old receive a PfizerCovid booster shot. This is because infections are increasing across the nation and immunity has declined from previous doses.

The panel voted 11-1 for a booster to the age group. Rochelle Wilensky, the Director of the CDC will probably sign off on this panel’s recommendation. It would enable pharmacies, doctor’s offices, and other providers to administer the shots.

Covid infection rates are increasing in the U.S. as more transmittable omicron variants sweep the nation. According to CDC data, the U.S. has been reporting over 99,000 new infections per day as of Tuesday. This is 22% more than the previous week. The data shows that hospitalizations rose 22% during the week with over 3,000 patients admitted to hospitals with Covid per day.

Although Covid in children is less common than it is in adults, there were more hospitalizations for kids aged 5-11 during the Omicron Wave than any other time during the pandemic. according to CDC data.Children with long-term conditions like long Covid or other long-term illnesses are also of concern to public health professionals. multisystem inflammatory syndromeMIS-C is a grave condition caused by Covid infection and affecting multiple organs.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2009, more than 8,000 children have been diagnosed with MIS-C. Children aged 5-11 years old are most frequently affected, accounting for 46% percent of all reported cases. according to CDC data. 16 children from this age group died of MIS-C. This is 23% of the 68 reported deaths in all kids.

According to the CDC, 29% of U.S. children aged 5-11 have not received their second Pfizer dose. More than 4.8million children have died from Covid in the United States since 2001, and over 15,000 people have been admitted to hospitals.

The immune protection provided by vaccines against infections has decreased as the number of cases increases. This is because more time has passed since the first series was administered. Omicron, and subvariants of it are adept at blocking the antibodies that prevent infection.

According to CDC data, Covid vaccination proved to be 43% effective in preventing infection for the age group of 5-11 year olds 59 days following the second dose. This was during the time when omicron emerged as the predominant Covid variant. Still, the vaccine was 74% efficient in preventing hospitalizations among 5-11 year-olds, spanning April 2021 to January 2022. That includes both periods of omicron and delta dominance.

Pfizer provided data on a smaller group of children aged 5-11 showing that three doses increased the infection-blocking antibodies against omicron by 22 percent one month later than two. Pfizer’s director for vaccine clinical research Dr. Charu Saharwal said that higher levels of antibody should provide real-world protection against the Omicron variant. The company however did not share any data on Thursday.

Sabharwal stated that most children who received the third dose of the medication had mild or moderate reactions. The most common side effects were fatigue and headaches. No one reported a fever greater than 104°F (or 40°C). No cases of myocarditis or heart inflammation were reported. According to Pfizer data, ten children had swelling of the lymph nodes. However, these cases resolved in a matter of weeks.

In the United States, over 18 million Pfizer vaccines have been given to 5- to 11-year olds since November’s two-dose series. According to CDC data, the 97% of vaccine reactions were mild. Side effects that were most commonly reported from shots included fever, vomiting headaches, dizziness, fatigue and dizziness.

The incidence of myocarditis (an inflammation of the heart) following the second Pfizer shot in boys aged 5-11 is very low. There were 2.7 cases per million administered doses. This is significantly lower than the 48 cases for boys 12-15 who had 48 cases. according to data from the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.

Twenty cases of myocarditis (an inflammation of the heart) have been confirmed by the CDC. These were all children between 5 and 11 years old, as per April’s Pfizer vaccine. Myocarditis was overwhelmingly a problem in boys. 17 of these patients had to be admitted and one died. Although there was no sign of viral infection in the boy who died, he had a fever 12 days following dose 1, and then stomach pains, vomiting, and eventually death.

The CDC. in a large study published in AprilAccording to a study, myocarditis risk is greater after Covid infection than when I was vaccinated with Moderna’s or Pfizer shots.