This story has been updated.
September 12, 2023 – New COVID-19 vaccines targeting newer variants of the virus will begin arriving in doctor's offices, pharmacies and clinics this week after the CDC gave final approval to the brand new formula today.
On Tuesday, a CDC advisory committee of doctors and nurses voted 13-1 to recommend that every one Americans 6 months and older receive a current COVID-19 vaccine that targets newer variants of the virus. CDC Director Mandy Cohen, MD, MPH, followed suit just a few hours later and allowed the shots to be administered. Vaccine makers Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech have said they’re ready to offer the shots.
“We have more tools than ever to prevent the worst outcomes of COVID-19,” Cohen said in a press release. “CDC now recommends an updated COVID-19 vaccination for everyone 6 months of age and older to better protect you and your loved ones.”
Reports of a mutating virus and COVID hospitalizations of about 17,000 people per week within the United States, in keeping with the health protection agency, led to a 13-1 committee vote. If the CDC intervened, Medicaid, Medicare and personal insurance firms would must cover the fee of the vaccines without charge to patients.
On Monday, the FDA approved the updated vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech for people 6 months and older. Notice The FDA's approval statement said the new edition of the vaccine higher fights currently circulating variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, and “provides greater protection against the serious consequences of COVID-19, including hospitalization and death.”
Tuesday's CDC decision will now not authorize the bivalent vaccine approved last fall. Nearly 153 million doses of that vaccine variant have been administered within the U.S. thus far, and vaccination rates are actually declining. That concern was raised on the meeting as forecasts suggest hospitalizations are expected to rise again this 12 months.
“I'm amazed at the number of people who are not vaccinated,” committee member Camille Nelson Kotton, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital's Division of Infectious Diseases, said on the meeting. “We need a general recommendation to give people clarity. Let's keep America strong and healthy and get rid of COVID,” she said before casting her vote.
The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices discussed current variants and virus lineages, vaccine effectiveness, an “economic analysis of COVID-19 vaccination,” safety, and a program that gives free vaccines to individuals with no or inadequate medical insurance. According to the meeting agenda, there may also be a public comment period.
Dr. Pablo Sanchez of Ohio State University Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus was against the choice. Sanchez was the just one to vote against mandatory vaccination and advocated focusing vaccination efforts on essentially the most vulnerable groups: the elderly, the immunocompromised and pregnant women. “I am not against the vaccinations,” he said, “but I am not in favor of mandatory vaccination this time and would prefer that we wait for more data.”