FDA approves updated COVID-19 vaccines, shots expected to be available within days

 

U.S. regulators on Thursday approved updated versions of COVID-19 vaccines, shots designed to more closely target newer strains of the virus and, hopefully, variants that could cause problems this winter.

With the Food and Drug Administration [FDA’s] After authorization, Pfizer and Moderna are ready to begin shipping millions of doses.

A third U.S. manufacturer, Novavax, expects its modified version of the vaccine to be available somewhat later.

“We strongly encourage those who are eligible to consider receiving an updated COVID-19 vaccine to get better protection against the variants currently circulating,” said FDA vaccines chief Dr. Peter Marks.

The agency’s decision came a little before the rollout of last year’s updated COVID-19 vaccines, as the summer surge of the virus continues in much of the country.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already recommended this fall’s vaccine for all children 6 months and older. Vaccines could be available within days.

While most Americans have some degree of immunity from previous infections or vaccinations, or both, that protection is waning.

Last fall’s shots targeted a different part of the coronavirus family tree, a strain that is no longer circulating; CDC data show only about 22.5% of adults and 14% of children have gotten them.

Skipping the next shot is “a risky way to go,” because even if your last infection was mild, the next one could be worse or leave you with prolonged COVID symptoms, said Dr. Robert Hopkins Jr. of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

This fall’s vaccine recipe is tailored for a new branch of omicron’s descendants. The Pfizer and Moderna shots target a subtype called KP.2 that was common earlier this year.

Although other strains are now emerging, notably KP.3.1.1, they are sufficiently related to each other to provide cross-protection.

A Pfizer spokesperson said the company has submitted data to the FDA showing that its updated vaccine “generates substantially improved responses” against multiple virus subtypes compared to last fall’s vaccine.

The big question: How long does it take to get vaccinated? This summer’s COVID-19 surge isn’t over, but the inevitable winter surges tend to be worse. While COVID-19 vaccines do a good job of preventing severe illness, hospitalization, and death, protection against mild infections only lasts a few months.

Hopkins advised people at high risk of contracting the virus not to wait, but rather to schedule vaccination as soon as vaccines become available in their area.

These include the elderly, people with weakened immune systems or other serious health problems, nursing home residents and pregnant women.

Healthy young adults and children “can get vaccinated at any time. I don’t think there’s any real reason to wait,” Hopkins said, though it’s OK to seek shots in the fall, when plenty of doses will have arrived in pharmacies and doctors’ offices.

The exception: The CDC says anyone who recently had COVID-19 can wait three months after recovery before getting vaccinated, until immunity to the infection begins to wane.

Hopkins, who sees patients at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, says it’s critical that more young people get vaccinated this year, especially as schools begin to reopen and coronavirus levels are high across the country.

“COVID doesn’t kill a lot of kids, thank goodness, but it kills a lot more kids than the flu,” Hopkins said, adding that teachers should also quickly get up to speed on the vaccine.

Health officials say it’s okay to get a COVID-19 and flu shot at the same time, a convenience that allows people to avoid having to make two trips. But while many pharmacies are already advertising flu shots, the best time to get one tends to be in late September and October, just before the flu begins its cold-weather climb. [AP]

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