United States – A committee of the U. S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday proposed changing the ingredients of Covid vaccines before a campaign that aims to start in fall for the latest shots.
Such a unanimous vote suggests that the next vaccine should be designed in a way that addresses the JN in particular. One variant accounted for the majority of cases in the US last winter, according to the New York Times. However, JN. 1 has been surpassed by its improved forms, including KP. 2 and KP. Three this spring, as reported by HealthDay.
The FDA is likely to give a formal recommendation of a new variant target that should be targeted by vaccine developers in the next few weeks, the paper stated.
Expert Opinions on Vaccine Development
During the discussion, the director of the FDA’s vaccine division, Dr. Peter Marks, called for the committee to advise the authors of the US’s mRNA vaccines to stop the development of the JN and shift to the latest versions of the virus. One variant was mentioned by the Times.
“We always say we shouldn’t be chasing strains, but we’re paying an incredibly high premium for mRNA vaccines to be able to have the freshest vaccines,” he said, referring to the technology used by Moderna and Pfizer.
“If this evolves further in the fall, will we regret not having been a little bit closer?” Marks asked.
However, Dr. Sarah Meyer, a senior vaccines official at the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that while seeking to aim at, JN.1 was more suitable because it was “higher up on the tree of the virus,” meaning that the vaccines could be better equipped to deal with the mutations of the virus, the paper said.
Alignment with WHO Guidance
This decision correlates with the resolution from a World Health Organization expert committee that observed in April that COVID vaccines start using a JN.1 formulation.
Executives at Moderna and Pfizer stated that both these companies would be willing to produce any of the two forms of the vaccine, the Times also noted.
While discussing the situation, federal health officials said that the number of COVID cases does not seem to be escalating, and the statistics demonstrate that people get sick with some infections from JN. 1 were no more serious than the ones in earlier forms, the Times pointed out.
Current Covid Trends and Vaccination Rates
Fewer than 400 COVID deaths per week have been reported lately; this was high above 2,500 per week during winter.
However, the Covid vaccination rate last year was significantly low, and CDC researchers found that only 18% of immunized adults had undergone the updated vaccine, and only slightly over 20% of all adults had received the shot, as reported by HealthDay.
Regarding nursing home residents who are most vulnerable due to extreme age and preexisting conditions, the CDC statistics reveal that approximately 30% of them have been fully vaccinated, compared to 65% before the new wave two years ago.