The New York Times released an article: “F.D.A. Approves New Covid Shots.”
Here are some excerpts:
The Food and Drug Administration approved a new round of Covid boosters on Monday, that will arrive alongside the seasonal flu vaccine and shots to protect infants and older adults from R.S.V., a potentially lethal respiratory virus.
In the last year, the updated Covid vaccine made it into the arms of only 20 percent of adults in the United States.
“Vaccination remains critical to public health and continued protection against serious consequences of Covid-19, including hospitalization and death,” said Dr. Peter Marks, the F.D.A’s top vaccine expert.
The F.D.A. granted full approval for the new formulas for people who are 12 and older and authorized them to protect infants six months and older through age 11. The Pfizer shot was authorized in the European Union for ages 6 months and older on Aug. 31.
COVID vaccines are just rolling out in the United Kingdom this week, with the first doses going to the highest risk people in care homes, ages 65 and over as well as health and social care staff members.
Federal officials have been retreating from labeling the new formulation as boosters to previous shots, preferring to recast them as an annual immunization effort akin to the flu vaccine. That shift may reflect concern over the fatigue that some Americans have expressed about yet another round of shots against the virus.
The vaccine campaign will also be the first since the end of the public health emergency, which expired in May. In previous years, the U.S. government bought hundreds of millions of vaccine doses and distributed them for free. This year, private insurance and government payers like Medicare that cover the vast majority of Americans are expected to provide the vaccines to people for free.
But the question remains whether the private market of hospitals, clinics and pharmacies will be able to calibrate their vaccine orders to stock a realistic supply. Experts are uncertain how much demand there will be for the latest shots.
…….The new Covid vaccines target the XBB.1.5 variant, which was dominant when vaccine makers began to formulate and test a new version. Though the virus has had a rotating cast of variants, experts say the new Covid jab should fortify protections against severe infection.
Recent fears that one newer, highly mutated variant would escape the vaccine proved unfounded by reputable independent labs, said Fikadu Tafesse, an associate professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at Oregon Health & Science University. The C.D.C. also reviewed studies on the matter and confirmed Friday that the vaccine was holding strong.
“We were really getting ready for no response at all, but the data is very, very promising,” Dr. Tafesse said.
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