{"id":10141,"date":"2023-09-29T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-29T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=10141"},"modified":"2023-09-15T14:32:53","modified_gmt":"2023-09-15T14:32:53","slug":"cdc-greenlights-two-updated-covid-19-vaccines-but-how-will-they-fare-against-the-latest-variants-5-questions-answered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/cdc-greenlights-two-updated-covid-19-vaccines-but-how-will-they-fare-against-the-latest-variants-5-questions-answered\/","title":{"rendered":"CDC greenlights two updated COVID-19 vaccines, but how will they fare against the latest variants? 5 questions answered"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n The CDC expects the updated shots to be effective at preventing severe COVID-19, even in the face of new variants.\n Teka77\/iStock via Getty Images Plus<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\nPrakash Nagarkatti<\/a>, University of South Carolina<\/a><\/em> and Mitzi Nagarkatti<\/a>, University of South Carolina<\/a><\/em><\/span>\n\n

On Sept. 12, 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the newly formulated COVID-19 vaccines<\/a> for all Americans ages 6 months and up<\/a>, hours after its expert advisory committee voted 13 to 1 in favor of recommending the vaccines.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n

The CDC\u2019s broad recommendation comes one day after<\/a> the Food and Drug Administration approved Moderna\u2019s and Pfizer\u2019s updated mRNA vaccines<\/a> that target a previously dominant variant of the omicron family called XBB.1.5. The updated shots will be available to the public within days.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

The Conversation asked Prakash Nagarkatti<\/a> and Mitzi Nagarkatti<\/a>, a husband and wife team of immunologists from the University of South Carolina, to weigh in on how the new vaccines might stand up against the latest COVID-19 variants that are swirling across the globe.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n

1. How are the new vaccines different from the previous?<\/h2>\n\n

When the first vaccine against COVID-19 was rolled out in December 2020, it was designed as a monovalent vaccine, meaning that it was formulated against only the original SARS-CoV-2 virus. That vaccine, as well as the updated ones, target the spike protein, which the virus uses to infect our cells and cause the disease. <\/p>\n\n

That design made sense before the virus began mutating into a complex family tree<\/a> of variants and sublineages<\/a>. But as the virus structure shifted over time, the antibodies produced in response to the original vaccine became less effective against the new variants.<\/p>\n\n

This necessitated the development in 2022 of new \u201cbivalent\u201d vaccines<\/a> that targeted both the original strain of SARS\u2011CoV\u20112 and new viral variants such as the omicron BA.4 and BA.5 lineages<\/a> that were dominant in mid-2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

But, not surprisingly, new variants of the virus continued to emerge.<\/p>\n\n

In June 2023, the FDA asked vaccine developers to formulate new fall shots<\/a> to target the then-dominant XBB.1.5 subvariant.<\/p>\n\n

The FDA approved that monovalent mRNA-based vaccine<\/a> based on the overall efficacy data presented by the vaccine manufacturers.<\/p>\n\n

Unfortunately, XBB.1.5 is no longer the dominant strain in the U.S.; it has been displaced by other variants from the XBB lineage, thereby raising concerns about the potential efficacy<\/a> of the new shot. As of mid-September, the dominant variants nationwide are<\/a> EG.5, also known as Eris, followed by FL.1.5.1 \u2013 called Fornax \u2013 and XBB.1.16.6. <\/p>\n\n

Meanwhile, a new highly mutated omicron offshoot, BA.2.86, nicknamed Pirola<\/a>, is making its way across the globe \u2013 albeit so far in small numbers. <\/p>\n\n

2. Who should get a new shot?<\/h2>\n\n

The CDC recommended that everyone ages 6 months old and up should get an updated COVID-19 vaccine so that they can be better protected against developing serious outcomes from COVID-19, including hospitalization. The agency noted that people who received the 2022-2023 bivalent COVID-19 shot \u201csaw greater protection against illness and hospitalization than those who did not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Most Americans will be able to get the newly formulated vaccine at no cost<\/a>, according to the CDC.<\/p>\n\n

The FDA approved a single shot of the updated vaccine for anyone ages 5 and older<\/a> \u2013 regardless of whether they were previously vaccinated or not. The agency also approved unvaccinated individuals 6 months to 4 years of age to receive three doses of the updated Pfizer vaccine or two doses of the updated Moderna vaccine.<\/p>\n\n

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