NEW YORK: A new COVID-19 booster vaccine is expected to be available in the United States in September as hospitalisations in the country rise from the EG.5 'Eris' variant, a descendant of the XBB lineage.
The new shots are designed to target the XBB.1.5 variant - an Omicron offshoot - to more closely resemble the various circulating strains of the virus.Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Novavax have all created updated versions of their vaccines but some health experts said the booster shots are likely to be coolly received by Americans.
Healthcare providers and pharmacies will be fighting declining concern about the virus, as well as fatigue and scepticism about the merits of this vaccine, said Kaiser Family Foundation Director of Survey Methodology Ashley Kirzinger. COVID-19 vaccine makers have already pared back expectations for this fall's vaccination campaign, with Pfizer – the largest maker of mRNA shots with BioNTech – recently warning that it might need to cut jobs if it does not do well. Its biggest rival, Moderna, conceded demand could be as few as 50 million shots.
CDC director Mandy Cohen said last week in a podcast that she expects the shots - which still need to be authorised by the US Food and Drug Administration and recommended by the CDC - to be rolled out in the third or fourth week of September. She suggested Americans should view these shots as an annual measure to protect themselves, in line with the annual flu shot.
COVID-related hospitalisations in the US are up more than 40 per cent off of recent lows hit in June, but are still more than 90 per cent below peak levels hit during the January 2022 Omicron outbreak, according to CDC data.Some doctors suggest that annual shots should be targeted at the elderly and other high-risk people, who are most likely to have dire outcomes if they catch COVID-19.
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