The US Food and Drug Administration approved Monday to update the Covid-19 vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech amid rising cases and hospitalizations.
Both vaccine manufacturers have announced that testing shows that their vaccines are effective against EG.5, the currently dominant strain in the United States. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices are scheduled to meet with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to discuss Covid-19 vaccines Tuesday, meaning the vaccines could become available within just a few days at certain pharmacies and doctor’s offices. Health officials are urging people to get vaccinated as soon as the shots are available.
“Vaccination remains critical to public health and continued protection against serious consequences of COVID-19, including hospitalization and death,” Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a news release Monday. “The public can be assured that these updated vaccines have met the agency’s rigorous scientific standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality. We very much encourage those who are eligible to consider getting vaccinated.”
As we previously reported, Joe Biden recently announced that he has signed off on a funding request for a new covid vaccine and says that it will be recommended that everybody get it. While speaking with reporters the president was asked about the rise in Covid cases and the new variants that are being discovered by health experts. “This morning I signed off on a proposal that we have to present to the congress and request for additional funding for a new vaccine that is necessary and works and tentatively it is recommended that everybody get it no matter whether they got it before,” he said.
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A new covid variant has health officials calling for people to start wearing masks again. The Daily Mail recently spoke with a health expert and we’re told that the new variant, BA. 6 is “probably” already in the United States. The new variant has only been detected in Israel and Denmark but health officials predict that the variant will make its way in America “very soon.” Dr Thomas Moore, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Kansas, spoke with DailyMail.com and said, “I’m sure it is already here. If it hasn’t already made it here, it probably will very soon.
As we all know, the pandemic began in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, and has since spread globally, affecting virtually every aspect of life around the world. COVID-19 primarily spreads through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes, talks, or breathes. Common symptoms include fever, cough, and difficulty breathing, but the virus can also lead to more severe respiratory illnesses, especially in older adults and those with underlying health conditions.
In response to the pandemic, various measures have been taken worldwide to control the spread of the virus, including lockdowns, travel restrictions, mask mandates, social distancing guidelines, and vaccination campaigns. Multiple vaccines have been developed and authorized for emergency use to prevent severe illness and reduce transmission.