United States – The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has suggested that if the COVID-19 campaign for 2024-25 is planned, every person six months and above should get a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine regardless of whether the person had the initial dose or not, as reported by Reuters.
The agency’s vote on Thursday followed the unanimous endorsement by its outside advisors of the new COVID-19 vaccines, when in accordance with FDA authorization or approval, for individuals aged six months and above.
Vaccine Types and Development
The CDC pointed out that the recommendation will become effective once new vaccines from Moderna (MRNA. O), Novavax (NVAX. O), and Pfizer (PFE. N) become available this year.
Earlier this month, the U.S. FDA requested vaccine manufacturers to alter the new shots to cover the KP. 2 variant if feasible for the project rather than use the JN. 1 lineage it had planned to approach earlier, according to the information disseminated by the organization.
Moderna and Novavax both applied to the FDA for a change to the plan for the shots against the JN. 1 strain in the fall of 2024.
Novavax stated that upon authorization from the FDA, it planned to make its upgraded cocktail available at the beginning of the vaccination campaign; Novavax added that its shot has cross-neutralizing antibodies for several variants, including KP.2 and KP.3.
Pfizer (PFE.N) and Moderna make virus spike protein messenger RNA shots, which can be created faster than Novavax’s protein-based vaccine.
The JN.1 of them dominated in the United States at the beginning of the year. Though the incidence was much higher a few decades ago, it is believed to be responsible for the deaths in the United States. Currently, infections are occurring at a rate of 4.4% of cases over the two weeks to June 22, as reported by the CDC.
Current Variant Landscape
The KP.2 strain was estimated to be at 20.8% of cases, while KP. 3, now becoming dominant, was at 33. 1%.
Pfizer also noted that it was in ongoing talks with regulators worldwide, including the FDA, regarding the formulation of COVID vaccines in the future.
Moderna stated that the fall vaccination programs would prepare an updated booster shot, while Pfizer and BioNTech (22UAy.DE) pledged to be ready to provide the new shots as soon as possible, as reported by Reuters.
Pfizer and Moderna claimed they have the doses of vaccines that can address the JN. 1 or KP. 2 variants.