Pfizer, BioNTech ask FDA to authorize bivalent COVID vaccine in young children

Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE said Monday that they asked the Food and Drug Administration to authorize their updated COVID-19 vaccine as the third dose for children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years old. Children in this age group receive three doses as their primary series of shots. (Older children, teens, and adults get two shots for their primary series.) If the FDA authorizes the new request, children in this age group would receive two of the original shots, and the third shot would be the bivalent dose, which equally targets the original strain of the virus and the BA.4/BA.5 variants. Pfizer’s stock is down 14.3%, while BioNTech shares have declined 35.1% so far in 2022. The S&P 500 is down 14.5% for the year.

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