FDA approves updated COVID-19 vaccines as summer wave continues
U.S. regulators approved updated COVID-19 vaccines on Thursday, shots designed to more closely target recent virus strains 바카라 게임 웹사이트 and hopefully whatever variants cause trouble this winter, too.
With the Food and Drug Administration바카라 게임 웹사이트s clearance, Pfizer and Moderna are set to begin shipping millions of doses. A third U.S. manufacturer, Novavax, expects its updated vaccine version to be available a little later.
"We strongly encourage those who are eligible to consider receiving an updated COVID-19 vaccine to provide better protection against currently circulating variants,바카라 게임 웹사이트 said FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks.
The agency's decision came a bit earlier than last year's rollout of updated COVID-19 vaccines, as a summer wave of the virus continues in most of the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention already has recommended this fall's shot for everyone age 6 months and older. Vaccinations could be available within days.
While most Americans have some degree of immunity from prior infections or vaccinations or both, that protection wanes. Last fall바카라 게임 웹사이트s shots targeted a different part of the coronavirus family tree, a strain that바카라 게임 웹사이트s no longer circulating 바카라 게임 웹사이트 and CDC data shows only about 22.5% of adults and 14% of children received it.
Skipping the new shot is 바카라 게임 웹사이트a hazardous way to go,바카라 게임 웹사이트 because even if your last infection was mild, your next might be worse or leave you with long COVID symptoms, said Dr. Robert Hopkins Jr. of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.
This fall's vaccine recipe is tailored to a newer branch of omicron descendants. The Pfizer and Moderna shots target a subtype called KP.2 that was common earlier this year. While additional offshoots, particularly KP.3.1.1, now are spreading, they바카라 게임 웹사이트re closely enough related that the vaccines promise cross-protection. A Pfizer spokesman said the company submitted data to FDA showing its updated vaccine 바카라 게임 웹사이트generates a substantially improved response바카라 게임 웹사이트 against multiple virus subtypes compared to last fall바카라 게임 웹사이트s vaccine.
The big question: How soon to get vaccinated? This summer바카라 게임 웹사이트s wave of COVID-19 isn바카라 게임 웹사이트t over but the inevitable winter surges tend to be worse. And while COVID-19 vaccines do a good job preventing severe disease, hospitalization and death, protection against mild infection lasts only a few months.
People who are at high risk from the virus shouldn't wait but instead schedule vaccinations once shots are available in their area, Hopkins advised.
That includes older adults, people with weak immune systems or other serious medical problems, nursing home residents and pregnant women.
Healthy younger adults and children 바카라 게임 웹사이트can get vaccinated anytime. I don바카라 게임 웹사이트t think there바카라 게임 웹사이트s a real reason to wait,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Hopkins said 바카라 게임 웹사이트 although it바카라 게임 웹사이트s OK to seek the shots in the fall, when plenty of doses will have arrived at pharmacies and doctor바카라 게임 웹사이트s offices.
The exception: The CDC says anyone who recently had COVID-19 can wait three months after they recover before getting vaccinated, until immunity from that infection begins to wane.
Hopkins, who sees patients at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, calls it vital for more youngsters to get vaccinated this year 바카라 게임 웹사이트 especially with schools starting as coronavirus levels are high around the country.
바카라 게임 웹사이트COVID does not kill many children, thank goodness, but it kills far more children than influenza does,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Hopkins said, adding that teachers, too, should quickly get up to date with the vaccine.
Health authorities say it's fine to get a COVID-19 and flu vaccination at the same time, a convenience so people don't have to make two trips. But while many drugstores already are advertising flu shots, the prime time for that vaccination tends to be late September through October, just before flu typically starts its cold weather climb.