American health authorities on Monday authorized updated versions of the anti-COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, better adapted to the variants currently in circulation.
The two companies said their new version of the vaccine would be available in the coming days for a booster campaign, at a time when the number of hospitalizations linked to COVID-19 is increasing in the United States.
These new versions were developed from Omicron’s XBB.1.5 sub-variant and should “provide good protection against variants [du virus causant] COVID-19 currently in circulation,” the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) said in a statement.
The two variants currently circulating the most in the United States are EG.5 and FL.1.5.1.
In a statement, Moderna said its new vaccine, tested on humans, had indeed triggered an immune response against these two variants.
Everyone or not?
If the FDA has authorized the new versions of the vaccine from the age of 6 months, another federal health agency, the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), must hold a meeting on Tuesday to clarify for which populations a booster dose is recommended.
American experts are divided on whether the entire population should be given a new dose, or whether the focus should instead be on the frail as is the case in Europe.
“We strongly encourage eligible people to consider getting vaccinated,” Peter Marks, head of the FDA, said in a statement on Monday.
“Vaccination remains essential for public health and continued protection against the serious consequences of COVID-19, including hospitalizations and deaths,” he recalled.
The United States wants to carry out an annual vaccination campaign against COVID-19, each time with a suitable vaccine, like that against the flu. But the success of the new formula is uncertain: the previous booster dose had only been received by 17% of the American population.