Fda approves updated covid-19 vaccines, shots should be available in days

WASHINGTON — U.S. regulators approved updated Covid-19 vaccines on Thursday, shots designed to more closely target recent virus strains — and hopefully whatever variants cause trouble this

winter, too. With the Food and Drug Administration’s clearance, Pfizer and Moderna are set to begin shipping millions of doses. A third U.S. manufacturer, Novavax, expects its updated

vaccine version to be available a little later. “We strongly encourage those who are eligible to consider receiving an updated COVID-19 vaccine to provide better protection against currently

circulating variants,” said the FDA’s vaccine chief, Peter Marks. The agency’s decision came a bit earlier than last year’s rollout of updated Covid-19 vaccines, as a summer wave of the

virus continues in most of the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention already has recommended this fall’s shot for everyone age 6 months and older. Vaccinations could be

available within days. While most Americans have some degree of immunity from prior infections or vaccinations or both, that protection wanes. Last fall’s shots targeted a different part of

the coronavirus family tree, a strain that’s no longer circulating — and CDC data shows only about 22.5% of adults and 14% of children received it. Skipping the new shot is “a hazardous way

to go,” because even if your last infection was mild, your next might be worse or leave you with long Covid symptoms, said Robert Hopkins Jr. of the National Foundation for Infectious

Diseases. This fall’s vaccine recipe is tailored to a newer branch of omicron descendants. The Pfizer and Moderna shots target a subtype called KP.2 that was common earlier this year. While

additional offshoots, particularly KP.3.1.1, now are spreading, they’re closely enough related that the vaccines promise cross-protection. A Pfizer spokesman said the company submitted data

to FDA showing its updated vaccine “generates a substantially improved response” against multiple virus subtypes compared to last fall’s vaccine. LONG COVID SYMPTOMS IN KIDS AREN’T

ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL, STUDY SHOWS The big question: How soon to get vaccinated? This summer’s wave of Covid-19 isn’t over but the inevitable winter surges tend to be worse. And while Covid-19

vaccines do a good job preventing severe disease, hospitalization, and death, protection against mild infection lasts only a few months. People who are at high risk from the virus shouldn’t

wait but instead schedule vaccinations once shots are available in their area, Hopkins advised. That includes older adults, people with weak immune systems or other serious medical problems,

nursing home residents and pregnant people. Healthy younger adults and children “can get vaccinated anytime. I don’t think there’s a real reason to wait,” Hopkins said — although it’s OK to

seek the shots in the fall, when plenty of doses will have arrived at pharmacies and doctor’s offices. The exception: The CDC says anyone who recently had Covid-19 can wait three months

after they recover before getting vaccinated, until immunity from that infection begins to wane. Hopkins, who sees patients at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, calls it vital

for more youngsters to get vaccinated this year — especially with schools starting as coronavirus levels are high around the country. “Covid does not kill many children, thank goodness, but

it kills far more children than influenza does,” Hopkins said, adding that teachers, too, should quickly get up to date with the vaccine. Health authorities say it’s fine to get a Covid-19

and flu vaccination at the same time, a convenience so people don’t have to make two trips. But while many drugstores already are advertising flu shots, the prime time for that vaccination

tends to be late September through October, just before flu typically starts its cold weather climb.