Category: Vaccine Headlines
Statement from HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra on CDC’s Historic Recommendation Allowing Older and Immunocompromised Adults to Receive the RSV Vaccine
HHS CDC Recommendation Follows the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) Recommendations for the Use of New GSK and Pfizer RSV Vaccines for People Ages 60 Years and Older Today, in response to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendation of the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccine for seniors over 60, U.S. Department of […]
Jul 5, 2023
This Fall’s COVID-19 Vaccines Will Target Omicron XBB Subvariants, but Who Needs Them Remains to Be Seen
JAMA On June 15, members of the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) voted unanimously to recommend updating the COVID-19 vaccine composition to a monovalent XBB lineage. On June 16, the FDA announced that it had advised manufacturers planning to update their COVID-19 vaccines that they should specifically target XBB.1.5. Scientists […]
Jul 5, 2023
New scheme aims to get vaccines to outbreaks faster
Reuters Three global health bodies are teaming up to investigate stockpiling experimental vaccines for rare infectious diseases so the shots can be tested more quickly when outbreaks happen, a top official from vaccine alliance Gavi told Reuters. The initiative will be led by Gavi, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness […]
Jun 27, 2023
FDA asks drugmakers to update Covid boosters to target XBB.1.5 for the fall
NBC The updated shots are expected to be distributed as early as September as part of a fall booster campaign. The Food and Drug Administration said Friday that it was advising drugmakers to update the Covid booster shots to target XBB.1.5, the predominant coronavirus strain in the United States. The announcement came a day after an advisory […]
Jun 20, 2023
Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax gear up for fall Covid vaccine rollout with an important head start
MSNBC The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Covid strain selection for the next round of shots puts Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax on track to deliver new jabs in time for the fall – a decisive win for the vaccine makers as they gear up to compete against one another. The FDA on Friday advised the three companies to manufacture single-strain jabs targeting the omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, one of the […]
Jun 20, 2023
Updated Covid vaccines need to target XBB omicron variants this fall, FDA staff says
CNBC U.S. Food and Drug Administration staff on Monday said updated Covid boosters should target XBB omicron subvariants for the upcoming fall and winter vaccination campaign. The U.S. should use a monovalent vaccine targeting either XBB.1.5, XBB.1.16, or XBB.2.3, collectively the dominant strains nationwide, the staff said in a briefing document. The FDA staff made the conclusion ahead of a meeting on Thursday, […]
Jun 14, 2023
Vaccine Candidate for Chikungunya Virus Safe and Effective
MedPageToday A single dose of the live-attenuated vaccine candidate VLA1553 for the prevention of disease caused by chikungunya virus produced a strong immune response, a phase III randomized trial showed. At 28 days post-vaccine, 98.9% of participants in the per-protocol population who received the vaccine had seroprotective chikungunya virus neutralizing antibody levels (95% CI 96.7-99.8, P<0.0001), […]
Jun 13, 2023
Next COVID Vaccine Should Only Target XBB Strains, FDA Staff Says
MedPageToday The next COVID vaccines should exclude the original strain of SARS-CoV-2 and exclusively target the Omicron XBB subvariants, according to FDA staff members. They unveiled their recommendation in a briefing document ahead of Thursday’s meeting of the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC), stating that “the totality of available evidence suggests that a monovalent […]
Jun 13, 2023
F.D.A. Approves Pfizer’s R.S.V. Vaccine for Older Adults
NYT The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved Pfizer’s vaccine against the respiratory syncytial virus, or R.S.V., for adults age 60 and older, the second approval granted for shots offering protection from the virus this month. GSK was the first drugmaker to get the F.D.A.’s permission to market an R.S.V. vaccine on May 3. The vaccines are expected […]
Jun 6, 2023
Companies won’t share COVID-19 shots, stalling future vaccine research
Science Developing more broadly protective products requires comparisons with existing shots that Pfizer and Moderna won’t allow. The U.S. government has tens of millions of unused doses of messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccines, regularly trashing shots as they pass their expiration dates. It’s a dismal reflection on recent vaccine uptake, but it’s also a serious […]
May 31, 2023