GREENSBORO, N.C. — Kids 5-11 are now eligible for COVID-19 booster shots. The FDA gave emergency use authorization for Pfizer's COVID-19 boosters for children five and up.
"This is really exciting that the booster has been approved," mom Kristina Bell said.
Bell said she can't wait to schedule her 6-year-old son Jamie for his Pfizer booster.
In February of last year, Bell had to take care of her son when he got COVID. It's something she never wants to experience again.
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"He was very sick, but thankfully only for a short period of time. Then when he was able to be vaccinated and I think that was October 2021, we took him to get both vaccines, so we felt very good thankfully we've been protected since," Bell said. "We're excited to hear that the booster is available so we can prolong our immunity a little longer."
Especially as the Bell family plans to do some traveling this summer.
"We're kind of expanding our bubbles and traveling and visiting different cities in different places," Bell said. "We haven't seen my husband's family up north in a while, so we would like to visit them, and we feel better knowing that we can visit them without giving him anything, so it definitely gives me peace of mind."
Dr. Mike Cinoman with Cone Health said this couldn't come at a better time. He recommends parents schedule booster appointments for their kids.
"It's been getting to be a significant period of time since the vaccine was first approved for 5 to 11-year-olds were talking nine or ten months now, so it's really the duration," Cinoman said.
For now, the CDC hasn't formally recommended the Pfizer booster for kids 5 - 11. The agency's scientific advisers plan to meet to discuss it, Thursday.