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CDC adds COVID-19 to routine vaccine list for adults, children

The new guidance simply formalizes its recommendations and does not include any vaccine mandates.

SEATTLE — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) added COVID-19 shots to its recommended immunization schedule for children, adolescents and adults.

The most recent updates to the CDC's immunization schedule, published Thursday, formalizes the recommendations that were approved in October by the vaccine advisory committee.

The CDC is not mandating any new vaccines for children, as school-entry vaccination requirements are determined by state or local jurisdictions.

For healthy children between 6 months and 4 years old, the CDC recommends a series of two doses of either the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech monovalent COVID-19 vaccine, followed by a third dose of a bivalent vaccine.

Healthy children between the ages of 5 and 11 are recommended a two-dose series of either the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine followed by a bivalent shot.

Those children ages 12 or older are recommended a two-dose series of either the Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech or Novovax vaccine followed by a bivalent booster.

The Washington State Board of Health (BOH) voted to accept an advisory group's recommendation in April 2022 and not add COVID -19 vaccinations to the list of required shots for K-12 students.

According to the state's COVID-19 dashboard, 11.4% of kids aged 6 months to 4 years had completed their primary vaccination series. Among kids age 5-11, 32.9% have completed their series of vaccines. From ages 12-15, 52.4% have completed their vaccines, while 63.2% of 16 and 17-year-olds in the state completed their primary vaccines.

Earlier this week, Seattle and King County announced the COVID-19 vaccination requirement for employment would be lifted after the region reached a high enough level of immunity.

 

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