Sept 12 (Portal) – The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday approved the widespread use of updated government-approved COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 6 months and older as the country prepares to launch days prepared for a vaccination campaign.
Director Mandy Cohen’s final recommendation comes after an agency advisory panel voted 13-1 to recommend the shots made by Pfizer (PFE.N) and partner BioNTech SE (22UAy.DE) and Moderna (MRNA.O). . .
They have not chosen to target the shots at specific high-risk groups, as some experts have suggested and other countries have recommended. The vaccinations are part of a push by health officials to tailor the next COVID vaccines more closely to the variant of the virus that is actually circulating, similar to how annual flu shots are designed.
The recommendation differs from the recommendations of most European countries that have issued guidelines. This month, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said vaccination programs in EU countries should prioritize people aged 60 and over and other vulnerable groups.
In Germany, booster shots are targeted at these groups, while the British government’s vaccine committee said the jab will only be offered to adults aged 65 and over and some other categories as they are most likely to benefit.
Members of the U.S. CDC panel said simply recommending the vaccine for everyone outweighs the complications that arise from tailoring recommendations more precisely.
“I am firmly in favor of a general recommendation,” said Dr. Camille Kotton, panel member and professor at Harvard Medical School. “Let’s eliminate COVID-19 as best we can by preventing disease through vaccines.”
The CDC advisers met a day after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updated COVID vaccines from Pfizer (PFE.N) and its German partner BioNTech (22UAy.DE), as well as Moderna (MRNA.O). approved for people ages 12 and older and approved for emergency use in children ages 6 months to 11 years.
Pfizer and Moderna have said the shots can be rolled out in the coming days, and the CDC said they will be available later this week.
Shots that can be administered to residents who are over 50 and immunocompromised and are eligible for a second booster shot against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are seen in Waterford, Michigan, U.S., April 8, 2022. Portal/ Emily Elconin/File Photo acquire license rights
Novavax’s (NVAX.O) protein-based vaccine is still under review by the FDA and a recommendation is expected to be consistent with the FDA’s decision.
A CONSTANTLY Evolving VIRUS
Formulating vaccines against the latest variants of the ever-evolving coronavirus has posed a challenge for health authorities worldwide since the pandemic began in 2020, with some variants more worrisome than others. The variants currently most widespread in the United States are subvariants of the so-called XBB lineage of the virus.
The updated vaccinations are monovalent or single-target vaccines that target the so-called XBB.1.5 variant, as required by the FDA.
“I think a comprehensive strategy to address the virus makes sense,” said Caitlin Rivers, a senior scientist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore, adding that while the virus has not caused as many hospitalizations and deaths as before, but this is still the case in circulation.
Rivers added that she was excited about the committee’s recommendation for young men “because we see that in rare cases young men can develop myocarditis or associated effects,” referring to a condition in which inflammation occurs in the middle muscle layer develops cardiac wall.
The incidence of myocarditis after booster doses in adolescent and young adult men is lower than after the first series of vaccinations, CDC official Megan Wallace said at the meeting.
She said the data was limited due to the smaller number of booster doses administered, adding that longer intervals between updated doses could also have an impact on myocarditis rates in this population.
The number of COVID infections and hospitalizations has increased in the United States, Europe and Asia, but remains well below previous peaks. Deaths are relatively low in the United States – around 2,000 were reported last month – although the country has recorded 1.1 million COVID deaths since the pandemic began.
Reporting by Bhanvi Satija and Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru, Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago and Michael Erman in New York; Editing by Will Dunham, Caroline Humer, Grant McCool and David Gregorio
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