U.S. regulators approved an updated COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday (Aug. 22), one designed to better combat the latest strain of the virus and any variants that could cause problems next winter.
With Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, drug companies Pfizer and Moderna will begin distributing millions of doses.
The approval comes a little earlier than the latest COVID-19 vaccine rollout in September last year, as the summer surge of the virus continues in much of the country.
Earlier this summer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that all adults and children 6 months and older get a shot this fall. The vaccine should be available within days.
Although most Americans have some immunity from past infection or vaccination, or both, protection against COVID-19 is waning.
Last fall’s shot targeted a different part of the coronavirus, a strain that has since disappeared. Only about 22.5% of adults and 14% of children received that vaccine, CDC data shows.
“(The vaccine) is targeted at the variants of the virus that we see circulating in this country and around the world right now,” said Dr. Robert Hopkins of the National Agency for Infectious Diseases.
This fall’s vaccines include the newer Omikron vaccine. The Pfizer and Moderna shots target a subtype called KP.2 that was common earlier this year.
A Pfizer spokesman said the company submitted data to the FDA showing that its updated vaccine “produced a significantly better response” against multiple subtypes of the virus “compared to the vaccine from last fall.” (ps/lt)
