FDA approves first flu vaccine that can be given at home

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the first flu vaccine that does not require a healthcare provider to administer, but it won’t be available in time for this flu season.

FluMist is a nasal spray produced by AstraZenecawhich has been used to protect against the flu in the United States since 2003. It is currently available in pharmacies for people aged 2 to 49 who have a prescription.

FDA approval adds a second option to those eligible to receive the vaccine: it can be administered at home.

AstraZeneca plans to make the vaccine available for self-administration through an online pharmacy, which will order and ship the vaccine after review and eligibility assessment. This option is expected to be available in time for the start of next year’s flu season.

“Today’s approval provides a new option to deliver a safe and effective flu vaccine“, he said dr. Peter Marksdirector of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

“Getting vaccinated every year is the best way to prevent the flu, which causes illness in a significant portion of the US population each year and can cause serious complications, including hospitalization and death,” he said. “This approval adds another option for the flu vaccine and demonstrates FDA’s commitment to advancing public health.”

FluMist: The only needle-free option

The flu caused at least 35 million illnesses, 400,000 hospitalizations and 25,000 deaths in the 2023-2024 season, according to estimates from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC recommends vaccination for everyone 6 months of age and older each season. But vaccination has declined in recent years; last season, only about half of adults and children received the annual flu shot.

FluMist the only needle-free option available for the flu in the US. It uses a live, weakened version of the flu virus to provide protection, but injectable versions use different technologies: either dead viruses or proteins to train the immune system to fight back. the virus. AstraZeneca says FluMist has been shown to be as effective as other flu vaccines.

When the FDA announced last year that it was investigating the possibility of a self-administered flu vaccine, doctors understood the importance of a cheaper option, but they didn’t expect that self-administration would dramatically change vaccination rates. .

Dr. Ashish Jhadean of the Brown University School of Public Health that a self-administered flu vaccine option could be even more affordable if it were available for purchase at the pharmacy.

He noted that 10-15% of people may have a phobia of needles, and are reluctant to get vaccines, so a needle-free option could increase vaccination rates.

“I think the effect will be moderate,” but he hopes this will lead to more awareness, through greater promotion or more research on intranasal vaccines, which are easier to get, says Dr. Ashish Jha.

Material taken and translated from Cheers CNN