Mariam Sunny and Christy Santosh
(Reuters) – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that people six months of age and older receive an updated COVID-19 vaccine for the 2024-2025 immunization campaign, regardless of whether they have previously been vaccinated against the disease.
The agency’s recommendation Thursday echoed that of a panel of outside experts who voted unanimously to recommend the use of updated COVID-19 vaccines authorized or cleared by the FDA in individuals six months of age and older.
The recommendation will come into force as soon as new vaccines against Moderna (NASDAQ:), Novavax (NASDAQ:) and Pfizer (NYSE:) will become available later this year, the CDC said.
Earlier this month, the US Food and Drug Administration asked vaccine makers to update new shots to target the KP.2 variant, if possible, rather than the JN.1 lineage it had previously sought to target.
Moderna and Novavax have filed applications with the FDA to update their fall 2024 shots targeting the JN.1 strain.
Novavax said it aims to make its updated vaccine available early in the vaccination season once it receives FDA authorization, adding that its shot identified broad cross-neutralizing antibodies against several variants, including KP.2 and KP.3.
Pfizer and Moderna make messenger RNA vaccines, which can be developed more quickly than Novavax’s protein-based vaccine.
The JN.1 variant was the dominant strain in the United States earlier this year. Although it is no longer as common, it is estimated to account for 4.4% of cases in the two-week period ending June 22, according to the CDC.
The KP.2 strain is estimated to account for about 20.8% of cases, while the KP.3 strain, which is now becoming dominant, accounts for 33.1%.
Pfizer said it is holding global discussions with regulators, including the FDA, to evaluate the composition of future COVID vaccine formulations.
Moderna has said it will be ready with an updated shot for the fall vaccination campaign, and Pfizer and its partner BioNTech (NASDAQ:) have said they will be ready to deliver updated vaccines immediately after approval.
Pfizer and Moderna have said they are ready to deliver vaccines targeting either the JN.1 or KP.2 variants.