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☆ The Covid-19 pandemic killed off one strain of the flu, and that will change the next vaccines
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Starting this fall, however, all the flu shots distributed in the United States will probably contain only three strains, and the change is because of Covid-19. It’s not quick or easy to change how flu vaccines are manufactured, and those changes require regulatory review and approval. The committee is meeting Tuesday to discuss next steps and vote on flu vaccine recommendations for the fall. “Anytime these flu vaccines are being produced, they are – depending on which vaccines you are talking about – using live or attenuated virus, and you do have to grow it,” she said. But as the authors note, any such change would require testing and regulatory approval, and for that reason, it’s not likely we’ll see the return of four-strain flu shots any time soon.

Persons: Covid, Yamagata, It’s, We’ve, ”, Paul Offit, Offit, Jodie Guest, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, Arnold Monto, Maria Zambon, Jerry Weir, it’s Organizations: CNN, World Health Organization, Food and Drug Administration, Vaccine Education, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Biological Products Advisory, WHO, Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, Get CNN, CNN Health, New England, of Medicine, UK Health Security Agency Locations: United States, Victoria, Yamagata

Democratic Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during The World Values Network's Presidential Candidate Series that discusses fighting antisemitism and championing Israel, in New York City, U.S., July 25, 2023. Kennedy's deep-pocketed backers and famous name, combined with a lack of broad enthusiasm for Biden and Trump, could help him take votes from their respective sides. "It could certainly siphon some votes from Trump, but it will certainly hurt Biden much more," said Republican strategist Ford O'Connell, who argued that Trump voters were more enthusiastic than Biden's. HIGH FAVORABILITY, TRUMP DONORKennedy has higher favorability ratings than either Trump or Biden, Reuters/Ipsos polling from September shows, with 51% of respondents having a favorable view of him compared to 45% for Biden and 40% for Trump. At 69, Kennedy might have an appeal to Americans looking for a younger candidate than Biden, 80, and Trump, 77.

Persons: Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Amr Alfiky, Democrat Joe Biden, Republican Donald Trump, Kennedy, Biden, Trump, Donald Trump’s, Matt Bennett, FiveThirtyEight, Ford O'Connell, Trump's, Paul Offit, George W, Bush, Ipsos, Cheryl Hines, Gavin de Becker, Timothy Mellon, Peter Daou, Joe Manchin, Joe Lieberman, Al Gore's, ProPublica, Lieberman, Jeff Mason, Heather Timmons, Lisa Shumaker, Grant McCool Organizations: Democratic, REUTERS, Rights, Democrat, Republican, Republicans, Trump, Independent, Biden, Health Defense, Children's, White House, Reuters, HIGH, TRUMP, RealClearPolitics, Mellon, America, Cornell West, Twitter, U.S, Thomson Locations: Israel, New York City, U.S, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, Arizona, American Samoa, West Virginia

A key adviser to the Food and Drug Administration's vaccine panel is questioning whether more Covid booster shots are necessary for healthy, younger people. The FDA later backed the vaccine panel, authorizing a new formulation of the booster shots. “The people who are talking about why young people need it are missing the point,” he said, referring to the booster. Levy, the director of the Precision Vaccines Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, continues to encourage Covid boosters for everyone who is eligible. Relatively few people in the U.S. have had updated boosters.

“If I won the lottery, I’d do this for free because I have a passion for public health,” Bernstein said. I had to put other projects on hold to do pro bono work for the CDC. “If we want CDC to get better at fighting diseases, we need to stop tying their hands behind their back,” he said. A senior CDC official called it an “antiquated” system that “has not evolved over time.” The official spoke on the on the condition of anonymity so she could speak freely on the matter. ‘A real challenge to solve’The CDC is preparing a presentation to urge Congress it to fix this, Walensky said.

☆ Updated Covid-19 boosters offer protection, but new studies suggest they don't offer an edge against Omicron
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

Similar immune responsesThe studies have important limitations, and they aren’t the final word on the updated boosters. In Barouch’s study, antibody concentrations were 15 times higher after the original boosters, rising from 184 to 2,829. They were 17 times higher after the updated shots, jumping from 211 to 3,693. After waiting the recommended three months since his last Covid-19 infection, President Joe Biden got an updated booster Tuesday and urged eligible Americans to do the same. Worobey says that when the strains are combined as they are in the updated boosters, they actually end up competing.

☆ Less than 2% of U.S. adults have gotten updated Covid booster shots
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Aria Bendix | Aria Bendix Is The Breaking Health Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

At least 4.4 million people have received an updated Covid booster since the start of the month, according to data released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC signed off on updated versions of Pfizer’s and Moderna’s booster shots on Sept. 1, and pharmacies and other vaccination sites began administering the new shots around Labor Day weekend. As of Tuesday, the U.S. had shipped more than 25 million bivalent booster doses to tens of thousands of sites. Some pharmacies reported shortages of Moderna's updated booster earlier this week. Biden administration officials have pointed to the updated boosters, however, as a critical step to pushing the U.S. out of the pandemic.

☆ Omicron-specific Covid boosters for children ages 5 to 11 are 'only a matter of weeks away,' says FDA vaccine chief
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

New omicron-specific Covid boosters for children ages 5 to 11 are "only a matter of weeks away," according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's vaccine chief. Marks added that an authorization for the youngest age group — kids under 5 — is still "a few months away." The CDC expects Pfizer's redesigned booster to be for children ages 5 to 11, and Moderna's to be for children ages 6 to 17. Currently, children ages 5 to 11 are only eligible to receive Covid vaccines for their primary series, and a single monovalent booster dose from Pfizer. If the new bivalent boosters receive approval from the FDA and CDC, the monovalent boosters may no longer be authorized for the age group, according to the CDC's planning guide.

☆ Should You Get Another Covid Booster?
▼ + stars: | 2022-03-29 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +12 min

to authorize a second booster shot of its vaccine — that is, a fourth dose — for people aged 65 and older. Two days later, Moderna followed suit, but with a broader request to authorize a second booster for all adults over 18. The agency said on Tuesday that adults aged 50 and older could opt for a second booster shot of the vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna, to be given at least four months after the first booster of any authorized or approved Covid vaccine. A second booster would be the third shot for those who received one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and a booster shot of an mRNA vaccine. In fact, other data from Israel suggests that a second booster has only marginal benefits in healthy young people.

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