US authorizes updated Covid-19 vaccines that target Omicron

• The United States authorized its first updated Covid-19 vaccines that target Omicron variants.
• They could be available in a few days.
• FDA approved modified formulas produced by Pfizer and Moderna.

The United States authorized its first updated Covid-19 vaccines on Wednesday, with booster shots focused on Omicron variants, the most common strain today. Shots could be available in a few days, according to The Hill and the AP.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized modified formulas of the vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna, which have already saved millions of lives. The hope is that the modified reinforcements will hold off another winter surge. «You’ll see me at the front of the line,» Dr. Peter Marks, the FDA’s chief vaccine officer, told The Associated Press shortly before his agency authorized the new doses.

WHAT’S NEW?

Until now, Covid-19 vaccines have focused on the original strain of Covid, although very different mutations have appeared since then. The new booster shots in the United States are combination or «bivalent». They contain half the formula of the original vaccine and half protection against the newer versions of Omicron, like BA.4 and BA.5, which are considered the most contagious to date.

The combination is intended to increase cross-protection against multiple variants. «This really offers the best chance of protection,» Pfizer’s chief vaccine officer, Annaliesa Anderson, told the AP. The boosters are only for those who have already received the regular vaccine with the original formulas.

WHO CAN GET THE NEW VACCINES?

The vaccine made by drugmakers Pfizer and its partner BioNTech is for people 12 years of age and older, while Moderna’s is for adults only, as long as it’s been at least two months since their last shot. They should not be used as the first vaccine.

There is one more step before the vaccination campaign begins this fall: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) must recommend who should receive them. A CDC panel will debate the issue Thursday, including whether to vaccinate the high-risk population first. Filed Under: Updated covid-19 vaccines

WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT?

«As we head into fall and begin to spend more time indoors, we strongly encourage anyone who is eligible to consider receiving a booster dose with a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine to provide better protection against currently circulating variants,» FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf stated in a press release.

The United States has purchased more than 170 million doses from the two companies. Pfizer announced that it will be able to deliver 15 million by the end of next week. It remains to be seen if the public, already tired of so many vaccines, will be willing to roll up their sleeves again. Just over half of the eligible population in the United States got the first booster dose, and only a third of people age 50 and older got the second booster. Filed Under: Update covid-19 vaccines

FIGHT OVER THE PATENT

Moderna sued its competitors Pfizer and BioNTech, accusing them of copying its technology to produce its Covid-19 vaccine. Moderna said Friday that Pfizer and BioNTech’s Comirnaty vaccine violates patents Moderna filed years ago to protect its Spikevax vaccine technology.

The company filed patent infringement lawsuits in the United States and Germany. Pfizer spokeswoman Pam Eisele said the company had not reviewed Moderna’s lawsuit in its entirety, but that the drugmaker was surprised by it, given that its vaccine is based on technology developed by BioNTech and Pfizer. She noted in an email that New York-based Pfizer Inc. would «vigorously defend» themselves.