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For the first time, the CDC has signed off on reformulated Covid boosters in an effort to keep up with the dramatic and rapid evolution of the virus since the pandemic first began in China in 2019.
The goal is to provide more durable protection against disease as the U.S. faces another Covid surge this fall. The old shots, developed against the original strain that emerged in China, are losing their effectiveness because they are not matched to the many mutations.
The new shots target omicron BA.5, the dominant variant in the U.S., as well as the original strain that emerged in China. Though health officials expect the shots to provide better protection, nobody knows how effective they will really be in the real world.
The CDC and the Food and Drug Administration signed off on the shots without any clinical trial on the new boosters. The health agencies relied on human data from a slightly different shot that targets another omicron variant that has since died out, BA.1, as well as mouse studies.
U.S. health officials are acting with urgency – deaths and hospitalizations are increasing among the elderly as the old shots lose their effectiveness.
CDC and FDA officials say the safety of the Covid vaccines is well established, and there's no reason the new boosters would be inferior to the old ones.
With the new vaccines now matched to the predominant variant, there's good reason to believe they will increase protection to the high levels that the shots demonstrated in early 2021, officials say.
But only time will tell.
Feel free to send any tips, suggestions, story ideas and data to me at spencer.kimball@nbcuni.com.
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