The FDA clears updated COVID-19 vaccines for kids under age 5

A nurse at a University of Washington Medical Center clinic in Seattle gives a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine shot to a 20-month-old child on June 21. (Ted S. Warren/AP)

U.S. regulators on Thursday cleared doses of the updated COVID-19 vaccines for children younger than age 5.

The Food and Drug Administration's decision aims to better protect the littlest kids amid an uptick in COVID-19 cases around the country — at a time when children's hospitals already are packed with tots suffering from other respiratory illnesses including the flu.