US CDC contemplates who should get the new COVID shots
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[September 12, 2023]
By Bhanvi Satija and Julie Steenhuysen
(Reuters) - A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
advisory panel is due on Tuesday to recommend whether the updated
COVID-19 shots formulated by vaccine manufacturers should be given
broadly or just to specific populations at higher risk during this
fall's vaccination campaign.
The updated shots are part of a push by public health officials to align
the next COVID vaccines more closely with the actual circulating variant
of the virus, similar to the way annual flu shots are designed.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday authorized updated
COVID vaccines made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech SE as well
as by Moderna. Novavax said the FDA was still reviewing its shot.
Keeping up with the latest variants of the ever-evolving coronavirus has
been a challenge for public health officials globally since the pandemic
began in 2020, with some possessing more worrisome characteristics than
others. Vaccines can be formulated to target specific variants. The
variants circulating the most widely in the United States right now are
subvariants of what is called the XBB lineage of the virus.
At issue is whether the CDC advisers will call for targeting specific
populations for the new boosters - such as older adults or people with
underlying medical conditions - or a campaign with the broader
population in mind.
"I do think that a broad boosting strategy makes sense," said Caitlin
Rivers, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security
in Baltimore, adding that while the virus was not causing as many
hospitalizations and deaths as before, it is still circulating.
CDC Director Mandy Cohen is expected to approve the recommendations
issued by the advisers, allowing Americans to get the updated vaccines.
COVID infections and hospitalizations have been rising in the United
States, Europe and Asia but remain well below previous peaks. U.S.
deaths are now relatively low - reported at around 2,000 last month -
though the country has experienced 1.1 million COVID deaths since the
outset of the pandemic.
"The one group that I am curious to hear the committee's recommendation
on is young men, because we do see that, in rare cases, young men can
develop myocarditis or related effects," Rivers said, referring to a
rare condition in which inflammation develops in the middle muscular
layer of the heart wall.
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Syringes ready to be administrated to residents who are over 50
years old and immunocompromised and are eligible to receive their
second booster shots of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines
are seen in Waterford, Michigan, U.S., April 8, 2022. REUTERS/Emily
Elconin/File Photo
The first COVID vaccines in 2020
were monovalent, or single-target vaccines, aimed at the original
strain of the virus. They were followed by bivalent COVID vaccine
booster shots that targeted both the original and the Omicron
strains. The new updated shots are again monovalent, targeting what
is called the XBB.1.5 variant, as requested by the FDA.
"I do think that the XBB.1.5 vaccine will provide better cross
protection against the current Omicron variants than the bivalent
booster," said Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, chief of infectious diseases at
Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
Scientists are also closely watching other Omicron subvariants that
are circulating, including the currently dominant EG.5, nicknamed
Eris, and the highly mutated BA.2.86 subvariant, that had raised
concerns about a resurgence of infections.
Kuritzkes said there will be some cross-protection across variants
from the updated shots.
"It's obviously not the same as giving a shot of whatever the most
prevalent current variant is, but that is almost an impossibility,
given the speed with which the virus has been evolving," Kuritzkes
said.
Vaccine makers Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Novavax have said their
updated shots are effective in protecting against the EG.5
subvariant, while Moderna and Pfizer's shots generated strong
responses in testing against the BA.2.86 subvariant. Novavax said on
Monday it was still testing its vaccine against BA.2.86.
(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru and Julie Steenhuysen in
Chicago; Editing by Will Dunham and Caroline Humer)
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