CDC expects latest shots to be available in mid September

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects updated Covid vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax to be available to the general public in mid-September, an agency official told reporters Thursday. 

That amounts to essentially the most specific timeline so far. Federal officials have said the brand new shots could arrive around September. CDC Director Mandy Cohen had previously provided a later timeline, telling NPR that the vaccines could possibly be available by the “early October timeframe.”

Those shots still need approvals from the Food and Drug Administration and the CDC, which is able to set eligibility guidelines for the jabs. An independent panel of advisors to the CDC is meeting on Sept. 12 to vote on a advice for those guidelines. 

Officials from the CDC and FDA said the agencies will encourage Americans to receive an updated Covid shot and other key vaccines ahead of the autumn, when respiratory viruses typically begin to spread more widely. That features the annual flu shot and recently approved jabs that protect older adults and infants from respiratory syncytial virus.

“Our goal, our imperative, our task is to ensure we’re using those tools,” the CDC official said. “Vaccination goes to proceed to be key this yr because immunity wanes and since the Covid-19 virus continues to alter.”

The arrival of updated vaccines offers some reassurance to Americans because the U.S. sees a slight uptick in Covid cases and hospitalizations. But those metrics remain below the summer peak that strained hospitals last yr, the CDC official noted. 

The present surge appears to be fueled by newer strains of the virus like EG.5, or Eris, an omicron subvariant that accounted for 17.3% of all cases as of last week, in response to the CDC. 

Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax designed their updated vaccines to focus on the omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, which is slowly declining in prevalence nationwide. But initial trial data from all three drugmakers suggest the brand new shots will still protect against EG.5. 

“Certainly one of the manufacturers have already made it clear that when testing their vaccine against the EG.5 that it looks just like the neutralization is strong,” an FDA official told reporters Thursday. 

However it’s unclear how well the brand new shots will protect against one other latest omicron strain of the virus called BA.2.86, which has been identified in a really small variety of cases within the U.S., U.K., Denmark and Israel.

“I believe it’s too early to know of course about BA.2.86 by way of exact data,” the FDA official said, adding that more information will probably be available in the approaching weeks. 

Nevertheless, the official noted that the brand new vaccines will likely protect against any severe outcomes from catching the Covid virus.

Last week, the World Health Organization and the CDC said they’re tracking BA.2.86 since it has 36 mutations that distinguish it from XBB.1.5. Up to now, there is no such thing as a evidence that BA.2.86 spreads faster or causes more serious infections than previous versions.