photo by: Kevin Anderson/Journal-World File Photo

The Lawrence-Douglas County health department's home at the Community Health Facility, 200 Maine St., is pictured in this file photo from July 2010.

Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health announced Wednesday that it now has the most up-to-date coronavirus boosters available for children 6 months to 5 years old, along with a new web page for scheduling vaccination appointments.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expanded updated COVID-19 vaccine eligibility on Dec. 9 to include children as young as 6 months old. According to the CDC, children in the 6 months to 5 years age range who have previously completed a primary series of the Moderna COVID vaccine are eligible to receive a Moderna “bivalent” booster two months after their final primary series dose. For children who are currently completing a Pfizer primary series, they’ll receive a Pfizer bivalent vaccine as their third primary dose.

The newest version of the COVID booster, which is more effective against omicron subvariants, was approved for folks ages 12 and older about three months ago. These boosters are “bivalent,” meaning they contain half the original vaccine that’s been in use since December of 2020 combined with a vaccine mixture designed to provide protection against the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron subvariants. The bivalent booster now replaces older versions as the authorized vaccine for children younger than 12.

The vast majority of children in this age group haven’t received any doses of a COVID vaccine, according to the CDC. Specifically, 95% of children aren’t vaccinated or haven’t completed their primary COVID vaccine series.

People interested in scheduling a vaccine appointment for their children can do so at ldchealth.org/booking, or can call the health department at 785-843-0721 for assistance with scheduling.