Updated Novavax COVID-19 vaccines could be available as early as next week
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Updated: 4:49 PM CDT Aug 30, 2024
PLAY. FIVE ON YOUR HEALTH TONIGHT. THE FDA APPROVING NEW COVID 19 VACCINES FOR THIS FALL. BUT EXPERTS SAY SOME AMERICANS CAN STILL SAFELY WAIT TO GET ONE. JOINING US TO EXPLAIN ALL OF THIS IS DOCTOR TODD ELLERIN, THE CHIEF OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES AT SOUTH SHORE HEALTH. GOOD TO SEE YOU. GOOD TO BE WITH YOU, JENNIFER. ALL RIGHT. YOU SAID YOU WANTED A RAPID FIRE SESSION TO GET AS MUCH INFORMATION OUT. SO CVS AND WALGREENS EXPECTED TO RECEIVE THESE DOSES SOON. WHAT ARE THE BIG CHANGES? LISTEN, MOST THINGS ARE THE SAME. MRNA VACCINES. WE KNOW BILLIONS OF PEOPLE HAVE GOTTEN IT AND WHAT’S CHANGING IS THE TYPE. SO IT’S GOING TO BE CP2, WHICH IS THE STRAIN THAT WAS RECENTLY CIRCULATING. AND YEAH, AND YOU KNOW, MOST OF THE RULES REALLY STILL CHANGE HAVE HAVE NOT CHANGED OKAY. SAFETY RISKS. WE KNOW THIS IS A SAFE VACCINE. BILLIONS OF PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD HAVE GOTTEN THIS. AND MOST SIDE EFFECTS ARE LOCAL INJECTION SITE REACTIONS. NOTHING’S CHANGED. ALL RIGHT. AND LET’S TALK ABOUT TIMING AND WHEN PEOPLE SHOULD THINK ABOUT GETTING ONE. YEAH. SO THAT’S A GOOD QUESTION BECAUSE WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A COVID SURGE. AND REALLY WE’VE HAD SUMMER AND WINTER SURGES. WHAT I WOULD SAY IS THAT FOR MOST HEALTHY PEOPLE, YOU CAN REALLY WAIT TO GET IT IN THE FALL WHEN YOU’RE GOING TO GET YOUR FLU SHOT. AND FOR THOSE THAT ARE OLDER PATIENTS, OVER 60 AND AND HAVE COMORBIDITIES, THE RSV VACCINE. SO YOU CAN WAIT. BUT THERE MIGHT BE SOME PATIENTS THAT HAVEN’T GOTTEN IT FOR A WHILE AND ARE SIGNIFICANTLY IMMUNOCOMPROMISED. AND THOSE PATIENTS YOU HAVE TO REALLY THINK ABOUT POTENTIALLY GETTING IT NOW. OVERALL, THE HIGHEST RISK PATIENTS WE IDEALLY WANT TO GET IT TWICE A YEAR, ONCE IN THE SPRING TO PREPARE FOR THE SUMMER SURGE AND ONCE IN THE FALL TO PREPARE FOR THE WINTER SURGE. OKAY. AND THERE ARE SEVERAL BRAND BRANDS OF THESE VACCINES. IS ONE BETTER THAN THE OTHER? SHOULD SOME PEOPLE GET ONE OVER THE OTHER, OR WHAT’S YOUR RECOMMENDATION? THE RIGHT COVID VACCINE IS THE ONE YOU GET IN YOUR ARM. OKAY, IF YOU’VE GOTTEN A DIFFERENT ONE BEFORE, IF YOU’VE GOTTEN PFIZER BEFORE, YOU CAN GET MODERNA AND VICE VERSA. AND IF YOU DON’T WANT TO GET AN MRNA VACCINE, YOU CAN ALSO GET NOVAVAX, WHICH IS A PROTEIN VACCINE. OKAY, ANY ADVICE FOR THOSE WHO ARE THINKING, YES, LET’S GET IT. AND WE DON’T HAVE ANY RISK FACTORS. WHAT ABOUT KIDS? WHAT SHOULD WE DO? IT MAKES SENSE THAT IF YOU’RE SIX MONTHS AND OLDER, THAT YOU GET ONE, YOU KNOW, ONE VACCINE A YEAR. AGAIN, FOR THOSE HIGHER RISK PEOPLE ELDERLY, IMMUNOCOMPROMISED, CHRONIC CONDITIONS, YOU WANT TO THINK ABOUT GETTING IT TWICE A YEAR. BUT AGAIN, IF YOU’RE A HEALTHY PERSON, YOU DON’T HAVE TO GO OUT AND GET IT IMMEDIATELY. YOU CAN WAIT UNTIL THE FALL OR, YOU KNOW, LATER IN THE FALL TO TO GET THE VACCINE. AND YOU MENTIONED WE HAVE BEEN IN THE SEASON WHERE A LOT OF US HAVE BEEN GETTING COVID. SO IF WE JUST HAD IT, DO WE NEED TO WAIT IN ORDER TO GET THE VACCINE? GREAT QUESTION. IF YOU’VE GOTTEN COVID OR YOU’VE ALREADY GOTTEN THE COVID VACCINE, YOU WANT TO WAIT AT LEAST THREE MONTHS. GENERALLY SPEAKING, IF YOU’RE HEALTHY, I SAY YOU CAN WAIT EVEN 4 TO 6 MONTHS BEFORE YOU GET IT. BUT YOU WANT TO WAIT THREE MONTHS IF YOU’VE GOTTEN COVID BEFORE YOU GET THE COVID VACCINE. ONE THING I WANT TO SAY IS TO REMEMBER ONLY 14% OF CHILDREN AND 22% OF ADULTS RECEIVED LAST YEAR’S COVID VACCINE. SO I THINK THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO REALLY MAKE SURE YOU GET A JAB IN YOUR ARM.
Updated Novavax COVID-19 vaccines could be available as early as next week
![CNN logo]()
Updated: 4:49 PM CDT Aug 30, 2024
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized an updated version of the protein-based Novavax COVID-19 vaccine for use in people 12 and up. Doses could be available by the end of next week.“The COVID-19 vaccines have had a tremendous positive impact on public health and vaccination continues to be the most effective method for COVID-19 prevention,” Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a statement. “COVID-19 continues to be a very real risk for many people, and we encourage individuals to consider getting an updated COVID-19 vaccine when eligible. Today’s authorization provides an additional COVID-19 vaccine option that meets the FDA’s standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality needed to support emergency use authorization.”Novavax’s vaccine is based on protein technology, which takes longer to manufacture than mRNA vaccines like those made by Pfizer and BioNTech and Moderna. Protein-based vaccines work by getting the body’s immune system to recognize small modified pieces of the virus it’s targeting. In this case, that means pieces of the coronavirus spike protein.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended in June that everyone over 6 months old receive both an updated COVID-19 vaccine and a flu shot this year.The FDA greenlit updated mRNA-based Moderna and Pfizer shots last week. Those vaccines target the KP.2 strain of the coronavirus, an offshoot of JN.1, which is the target of Novavax’s protein-based shots. The KP.3.1.1 strain, which is also an offshoot of JN.1, is the prevalent version in the U.S. now, according to CDC data.The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are already available in some pharmacies. Novavax said its vaccine “will be available in thousands of locations across the country, including retailers, regional grocers, and independent pharmacies.”Levels of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, measured in wastewater are at “very high” levels nationally, according to CDC data, sparking the highest summer peak in the U.S. since July 2022. Monitoring of viral levels in wastewater can give a picture of how widespread the virus is as testing and other forms of monitoring have fallen off.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized an updated version of the protein-based Novavax COVID-19 vaccine for use in people 12 and up. Doses could be available by the end of next week.
“The COVID-19 vaccines have had a tremendous positive impact on public health and vaccination continues to be the most effective method for COVID-19 prevention,” Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a statement. “COVID-19 continues to be a very real risk for many people, and we encourage individuals to consider getting an updated COVID-19 vaccine when eligible. Today’s authorization provides an additional COVID-19 vaccine option that meets the FDA’s standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality needed to support emergency use authorization.”
Novavax’s vaccine is based on protein technology, which takes longer to manufacture than mRNA vaccines like those made by Pfizer and BioNTech and Moderna. Protein-based vaccines work by getting the body’s immune system to recognize small modified pieces of the virus it’s targeting. In this case, that means pieces of the coronavirus spike protein.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended in June that everyone over 6 months old receive both an updated COVID-19 vaccine and a flu shot this year.
The FDA greenlit updated mRNA-based Moderna and Pfizer shots last week. Those vaccines target the KP.2 strain of the coronavirus, an offshoot of JN.1, which is the target of Novavax’s protein-based shots. The KP.3.1.1 strain, which is also an offshoot of JN.1, is the prevalent version in the U.S. now, according to CDC data.
The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are already available in some pharmacies. Novavax said its vaccine “will be available in thousands of locations across the country, including retailers, regional grocers, and independent pharmacies.”
Levels of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, measured in wastewater are at “very high” levels nationally, according to CDC data, sparking the highest summer peak in the U.S. since July 2022. Monitoring of viral levels in wastewater can give a picture of how widespread the virus is as testing and other forms of monitoring have fallen off.
