The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday expanded coronavirus booster shots for children between five and 11 years old.

The agency had previously only cleared the Pfizer-BioNTech shot for children 12 or older, while Moderna's vaccine was solely available to those 18 and older.

The move is an effort to reinforce protection against the dominant BA.5 variant. The FDA's mandate will broaden access to Pfizer's shot to children as young as 5 and to Moderna's shot to children 6 and older.

"Since children have gone back to school in person and people are resuming prepandemic behaviors and activities, there is the potential for increased risk of exposure to the virus," said Dr. Peter Marks, the agency's director for evaluation and research.

As of Oct. 6, there were as many as 14.8 million cases of COVID amongst children, according to data from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Through the pandemic's course, "more children have gotten sick with the disease and have been hospitalized," Marks said.

The new boosters are authorized for administration in children a minimum of two months after an initial two-shot series or a booster dose.