The fall vaccination season is upon us, and authorities are preparing to release another updated version of the COVID-19 vaccine, as well as new tools to protect against the virus. RSV.
Below is a summary of the three vaccines that will be rolled out in the coming months.
New COVID-19 vaccine could be available by end of September
A version of the COVID-19 vaccine is likely to be reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this fall.
Presumably, guidance will then be given on who is recommended to be vaccinated.
The new vaccine will replace 2022 Edition. The booster vaccine, introduced 11 months ago, was designed against the Omicron BA.5 and BA.4 variant sublines. It is called a bivalent vaccine because it is designed to provide protection against both the later sublineage and the parental strain.
2023 version of the vaccine Will also be designed for the last major sub-variant of the Omicron, XBB.1.5. It will be a monovalent vaccine against XBB only.2023 COVID-19 vaccine formulation doesn’t need to protect against ancestral strain because original version of coronavirus, scientists say Appearing at the end of 2019 In Wuhan, China, it is almost extinct.
Staying up to date on your COVID-19 vaccination status is an important way to protect yourself from the disease, experts say.While most people have been vaccinated in some way, many have not The latest version. In California, for example, 73% of residents had received core vaccines, but only 21% had up-to-date vaccines.
In April, federal health authorities recommended that people 65 and older and those who are immunocompromised receive a booster immunization. Bivalent At least four additional months after you first update your booster.
If you have not had the COVID-19 vaccine in time, are immunocompromised, or are older, Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, recommends getting the 2022 vaccine now because COVID-19 levels are rising.
“I worry that they will get seriously ill,” Jin Hong said.
But for the very young and immunocompetent, waiting for the 2023 version might be okay, Chin-Hong said.
However, they can discuss getting the 2022 version with their doctors. Chin-Hong said she heard that a mother who had just given birth was considering getting the 2022 version of the COVID-19 vaccine to be able to spread antibodies to the baby, since babies won’t be vaccinated until they are at least 6 months old.
Vaccination requirements have become more flexible as the pandemic emergency subsides. On Saturday, federal authorities ended a requirement for health care workers at institutions receiving Medicare and Medicaid funding to be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus.Los Angeles County also has revoked Your COVID-19 vaccination requirements for healthcare workers.
“However, we encourage health care workers to be fully informed about the latest COVID-19 vaccine status. When health care workers are vaccinated in a timely manner, the risks to patients and health care workers themselves are reduced,” the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in a statement.
Anti-RSV new drug
Last week, the CDC gave the green light for a new vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which can lead to serious illness and death children and the elderly.
The immune vaccine, called nirsevimab, is sold under the trade name Beyfortus and is distributed by AstraZeneca and Sanofi. It is not technically a vaccine that boosts future immunity; rather, it is a long-acting monoclonal antibody that provides immediate and short-term protection as a preventive drug, according to Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.
According to the CDC, Beyfortus can reduce an infant’s risk of hospitalization and doctor visits due to RSV by 80%. It will likely be available sometime this fall.
Last fall, the RSV virus became a household name when it affected children’s hospitals in California and across the country. Last year, the virus sickened many children, some hospitals They ran out of pediatric beds.
In a normal year, RSV can to provoke The death toll ranged from 100 to 300 for children under 5 and 6,000 to 10,000 for those over 65. The virus also causes as many as 80,000 hospitalizations for children under the age of five and as many as 160,000 older adults each year.
The CDC recommends “Beyfortus for all infants under 8 months of age who are born during or entering their first RSV season (usually fall through spring). For children 8 to 19 months and those who are severely immunocompromised, a second quarter dose is recommended.”
“This new RSV immunization gives parents a powerful tool to protect their children from the threat of RSV,” he said in a statement. release CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen. “RSV is a leading cause of hospitalization in older and high-risk infants, and today we are taking an important step to provide this life-saving product.”
Earlier this summer, two RSV vaccines for older adults were also approved.June, CDC Approved The advisory group recommends that people over the age of 60 get the new RSV vaccine, a decision the CDC said should be based on patients asking their health care professionals whether the vaccine is right for them. The vaccines are provided by GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer.
Flu vaccine
The updated influenza vaccination formulation has been defined as this autumn.CDC Recommendations the best The months to get the flu shot are September and October.
The CDC said it does not recommend that most people get vaccinated in August unless there is reason to believe that person cannot be vaccinated in September or October. But there are some exceptions: According to the CDC, pregnant women in their third trimester can get a flu shot in August to ensure their newborn babies are protected because they’re too young to get a flu shot.
According to CDC recommendations since 2010, everyone over 6 months of age should get an annual flu shot.