On Dec. 8, 2022, Moderna announced it had received emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its BA.4/BA.5 Omicron-targeting bivalent COVID-19 booster vaccine, mRNA-1273.222, in children 6 months through 5 years of age.

The authorization was based on a 10 ﾵg booster dose following a completed primary series of Moderna’s original vaccine. The booster dose of mRNA-1273.222 contains mRNA encoding for the spike protein of BA.4/BA.5 as well as mRNA encoding for the original strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.