TOPEKA — Kansas and federal public health officials have expanded eligibility for the Pfizer booster shot to 36,000 children between ages 12 and 15, and moderately or severely immunocompromised children ages 5 to 11 can now get an additional primary dose.

On Thursday, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment authorized more than 2,000 COVID-19 vaccine providers across Kansas to begin administering the booster shot and additional primary dose to eligible populations.

Under the Pfizer booster advisory, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and KDHE said the booster could be offered to the 12-to-15 age group five months after a child had completed the primary series. KDHE said 36,400 of the 68,400 children who had the primary series of Pfizer shots were eligible for the booster.

“It has been proven that the COVID-19 vaccine is effective and is the best tool to protect you and your loved ones from serious illness, hospitalization and death,” said Janet Stanek, acting secretary at KDHE. “Our hospitals continue to report that the large majority of patients hospitalized with COVID, particularly those on ventilators, are not vaccinated.”

The waiting period for a Pfizer booster is now five months; the waiting periods for boosters of the Johnson & Johnson and Moderna vaccines remained at two months and six months, respectively.

The decision to make immunocompromised children eligible for an additional primary dose followed approval by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration and the CDC.

Angela Myers, a pediatrician at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, said she was pleased boosters for kids 12 and older were available. She said boosters for children as young as 5 could be available in the next few months. Side effects from these vaccines are extremely rare for kids, she said.

“Just like in adult hospitals, the kids who are being hospitalized for COVID are unvaccinated,” Myers said in an interview broadcast by the University of Kansas Health System on Thursday. “We are not seeing unvaccinated kids being hospitalized for COVID-19.”

Food aid extended

Meanwhile, the Kansas Department for Children and Families announced that it would be continuing its emergency food stamp assistance benefits for currently eligible participants. DCF’s order extended the maximum monthly benefit for 63,000 needy households at a cost of $14.5 million per month.

The supplemental food allotment will be effective in Kansas until July 31 or until the federal public health emergency declaration expires.

“Our goal at DCF is to protect children and strengthen families,” DCF secretary Laura Howard said. “The extension of the emergency food assistance benefits will help ensure Kansas families continue to have access to healthy groceries and basic necessities.”

People interested in applying for government food assistance can visit the the DCF website at www.dcf.ks.gov.

— Tim Carpenter reports for Kansas Reflector.