US regulator approves updated Covid vaccines for new variants
MINNEAPOLIS, MN.-
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday approved updated COVID-19 vaccines to combat new variants.
The decision affects mRNA vaccines launched by Pfizer and Moderna, which are formulated to more precisely target the variants currently circulating and provide better protection against serious consequences of the virus, including hospitalization and death, the regulatory body said in a statement.
“Vaccination remains the cornerstone of prevention,” said Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
These updated vaccines, he stressed, “meet the agency’s rigorous scientific standards for safety, efficacy and manufacturing quality.” The authorization includes the Comirnaty and Spikevax vaccines, approved for people over 12 years of age, and both the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines for people from six months to 11 years of age.
The FDA noted that those who receive the updated version may experience side effects similar to those of the previous versions.
The agency added that unless a significantly more infectious variant of the virus emerges, the composition of Covid-19 vaccines will be evaluated annually, as is already the case with flu vaccines.
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