aA panel of experts advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccination policy on Wednesday announced plans to provide additional Covid-19 booster shots to people over the age of 65 and those with compromised immune systems and to simplify Covid vaccine schedules. Officially approved.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was not asked to vote on the changes announced by the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday. seemed supportive.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky must approve the changes for them to take effect. She plans to do so late Wednesday. With this measure, elderly people who have been 4 months or more since their last vaccination and immunocompromised people who have been 2 months old will have her bivalent vaccine created by either Moderna or Pfizer and her BioNTech partnership. A booster dose of the messenger RNA vaccine is available.
After the second dose of this bivalent vaccine, immunocompromised people may receive a booster dose if deemed warranted by their health care provider.
Booster provisions do not apply to other vaccines licensed in the United States, vaccines manufactured by Novavax and Johnson & Johnson. Neither of these vaccines are widely used here, and the remaining US supply of the J&J vaccine is due to expire next month.
Several members of the panel have asked about the status of non-mRNA vaccines, neither of which is available in bivalent form. He said regulators are working with other manufacturers to chart a path forward.
Under the revised policy, most Americans who received one dose of the bivalent vaccine are currently not eligible for an additional booster dose of the bivalent vaccine.
Discussions about future dosages will take place in June, when the FDA will hold a meeting to decide whether the vaccine strains need to be updated for a possible fall vaccination campaign, Marks said. It is planned.
Studies show that protection against any infection is short-lived, and protection against more serious illnesses wane over time, but 25 hospitals in 20 states, known as the Respiratory Virus Study There were encouraging vaccine efficacy data presented by the CDC, obtained from the network of Acutely Ill, or on the IVY network.
Adults who have not received a bivalent booster but who have received 2 to 4 doses of monovalent vaccine have the most severe consequences of Covid infection (requiring ventilation or death) for >1 year after their most recent dose. It has been shown to maintain a solid defense against
Marks acknowledged that the COVID-19 vaccination schedule remains more complicated than desired. These changes are interim steps, and further moves to simplify the schedule are likely to come.
Advice for adults seems fairly clear, but the new schedule for children under five remains complex, with the two vaccines available for the youngest children requiring different doses, Bivalent booster eligibility depends on the brand the child received.
“It’s not over yet,” said CDC vaccine expert Sarah Oliver, referring to the need to streamline the timeline going forward.
