The Biden administration plans to urge all Americans to get a booster shot for the coronavirus this autumn to counter a new wave of infections, a White House official said on Sunday.

The official said that while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are reporting an increase in infections and hospital admissions from the virus, overall levels remain low.

On Thursday, Moderna (MRNA.O) said initial data showed its updated COVID-19 vaccine is effective against the “Eris” and “Fornax” subvariants in humans.

Moderna and other COVID-19 vaccine makers Novavax (NVAX.O), Pfizer (PFE.N) and German partner BioNTech SE (22UAy.DE) have created versions of their shots aimed at the XBB.1.5 subvariant.

Pending approval from health regulators in the United States and Europe, the companies expect the updated shots to be available in the coming weeks for the autumn vaccination season.

We will be encouraging all Americans to get those boosters in addition to flu shots and RSV shots,” the official said, referring to the Respiratory Syncytial Virus.

  • Riccosuave@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    This is completely wrong. The RSV vaccine was not approved until May of 2023. The push to release this vaccine, and for older adults to receive it is tangentially related to COVID in multiple ways.

    First, the COVID lockdowns caused a massive resurgent wave of RSV infections in both young children and older adults due to the fact that it is a childhood illness with some degree of lifelong immunity that wanes as the virus mutates over time as well as from the degradation of your immune system as you age. When that infection chain in younger children was broken it had consequences on the intensity and mutation of the virus that were not necessarily unprecedented, but perhaps unexpected. This is what lead to a large number of very serious infections in younger children, and then older people in a very short amount of time. I’m not a scientist, but you can look up the statistics for yourself if you’re interested.

    Secondarily, the research into COVID vaccines as well as this rise in rebound cases of RSV spurred on the push to study, test, and release these RSV vaccines for adults over the age of 60 who were most at risk. These vaccines have not been approved for children, or anyone under the age of 60 in any country in the world thus far. Again, I am not a scientist, and I do not understand the complexities that lead to so many failures in producing an effective vaccine for RSV when it has been attempted since at least the 1960’s. However, I do know that multiple RSV vaccines that went through human trials in children caused deaths from severe immune responses when patients experienced natural infection. So it is unlikely any vaccine will be created that is either capable or intended to provide prophylactic protection from native infection in children. The current vaccines are intended to strengthen the already existing immune response in adults only, and those are two somewhat different things.

    Edit:

    • Here is the citation from the Lancet regarding deaths from serious immune responses during human trials of a previous vaccine that was attempted during the 1960’s.

    https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanmic/article/PIIS2666-5247(23)00195-7/fulltext#:~:text=On May 3%2C 2023%2C the,Union on June 7%2C 2023

    • Additional information from the New York Times regarding the Monoclonal Antibody drug that was released for use in infants as a form of passive immunity to fight pre-existing infections. This is fundamentally different from a vaccine, and has an entirely different action mechanism.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/17/health/rsv-infants-fda.html

    • An in depth explanation of the difference between active immunity provided by vaccines, versus passive immunity to pre-existing infection provided my monoclonal antibodies.

    https://www.astrazeneca.com/what-science-can-do/topics/covid-19/covid-19-difference-between-antibodies-and-vaccines.html#:~:text=Vaccines are a type of active immunity.&text=They require a healthy immune,to produce infection-fighting cells.&text=Monoclonal antibodies are a type of passive immunity.

        • Sassy@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          You absolutely did say that the trials killed infants. You only suddenly started mentioning a trial from sixty fucking years ago because I called you out. How does an ancient trial have any bearing on today’s vaccines? Why bother? Why did you say specifically that vaccines were only approved for seniors when they have been approved for babies? What is your motive for spreading confusion?