Safety Monitoring of Bivalent COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine Booster Doses Among Children Aged 5–11 Years — United States, October 12–January 1, 2023

Weekly / January 13, 2023 / 72(2);39–43

Please note:. This report has been corrected.

Anne M. Hause, PhD¹; Paige Marquez, MSPH¹; Bicheng Zhang, MS¹; John R. Su, MD, PhD¹; Tanya R. Myers, PhD¹; Julianne Gee, MPH¹; Sarada S. Panchanathan, MD²; Deborah Thompson, MD²; Tom T. Shimabukuro, MD¹; David K. Shay, MD¹ (VIEW AUTHOR AFFILIATIONS)

Summary

What is already known about this topic?

After CDC’s October 2022 recommendation for bivalent COVID-19 booster vaccination for children aged 5–11 years, children in this age group received approximately 953,359 bivalent booster doses during October 12, 2022–January 1, 2023.

What is added by this report?

Early safety findings from v-safe and the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) for bivalent booster vaccination in children aged 5–11 years are similar to those described for monovalent booster vaccination. Most VAERS reports represented vaccine errors rather than adverse events. Neither myocarditis nor death were reported after bivalent booster vaccination.

What are the implications for public health practice?

These preliminary safety findings should be provided when counseling parents or guardians about bivalent booster vaccination. All eligible persons should receive a bivalent booster dose.

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