The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved updated COIVD-19 boosters on Thursday, paving the way for a fall vaccination campaign that could blunt the winter surge if enough Americans roll up their sleeves. .
New boosters targeting today’s most common Omicron strains should start arriving in pharmacies and clinics within days.
The decision by CDC Director Rochelle Walensky came shortly after CDC advisers voted in favor of the recommendation.
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Vaccination “may help restore protections that have weakened since the last vaccination and were designed to provide broader protection,” she said in a statement.
Fine-tuned shots made by Pfizer and rival Moderna offer Americans an opportunity to get up-to-date protection during yet another crucial time of the pandemic. , which is half the original vaccine and half protection against the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron versions that currently cause nearly all COVID-19 infections.
CDC advisers struggled with who should get the new boosters and when, because so far only similarly fine-tuned vaccines have been studied, not exact recipes.
Ultimately, however, the Panel noted that even before the expected new winter wave, the United States is still experiencing tens of thousands of cases of COVID-19 and about 500 deaths each day. We decided that the updated injection was the best option.
Matthew Daley, Ph.D., CDC Advisor for Kaiser Permanente Colorado, said:
Comparing the tweaks studied in people to the tweaks that the U.S. actually uses, “It’s the same scaffolding, part of the same roof, just putting some dormers and windows on it,” says Dr. Drexel’s Sarah Long said. University.
The CDC recommendation was the last step before starting the shot. Pfizer said it plans to deliver 3 million doses to immunization sites nationwide by Tuesday.
The original COVID-19 vaccine offers strong protection against severe illness and death, especially among young, healthy people who have received at least one booster.
However, these vaccines are designed to target viral strains that spread in early 2020. New mutants emerge and become less effective as time has passed since someone last inoculated them. According to the CDC, hospitalization rates for people 65 and older have spiked since April.
The updated shot is for use only as a booster and cannot be used for anyone’s first immunization. options are for adults only.
The big unknown: How much will people benefit from one of these extra shots.
Some studies of previous tweaks to vaccine recipes targeting an earlier Omicron strain named BA.1 involved more than 1,400 people, according to the CDC. That Omicron-targeting combo shot proved safe and able to activate virus-fighting antibodies, prompting European regulators on Thursday to recommend the use of that type of booster.
In the U.S., the FDA wanted the fall booster to target the currently circulating Omicron strain. Perhaps instead of waiting until November for human studies to complete, officials accepted tests in mice that showed the new tweaks elicited similarly good immune responses.
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That’s how the flu vaccine is updated each year, the CDC noted.
Dr. Pablo Sanchez of Ohio State University was the only CDC adviser to vote against the vaccination recommendation. He believes the bivalent vaccine is safe and will probably get it.
But given the lack of human data on how well it works, “I feel like this was a little premature,” he said.
Some CDC advisers say you’ll have to wait longer than the two-month minimum set by the FDA between your last vaccination and a new booster to see the full benefits. They said we should wait at least three months.
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One more change: The FDA no longer allows users over the age of 12 to use the original recipe booster, deeming it obsolete. This is a potential source of confusion for those who were planning to get regular boosters this week but now have to wait for the new kind of boosters to arrive.
It’s not clear how many people want the updated shot. Only half of vaccinated Americans received the first recommended booster, and her third of those over the age of 50 who were prompted to get the second booster Only one of the was.
The US government has purchased 170 million doses from both companies, which the CDC says could reach 200 million people for free.
Mike Stobbe, Associated Press Medical Writer, contributed to this report.
The Associated Press’ Health Sciences Division is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science Education Division. AP is solely responsible for all content.
