The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated its guidelines for Covid-19 vaccines to permit an additional dose of the bivalent booster for individuals aged 65 and above or those with weakened immune systems.
The change, made on Wednesday, comes following Tuesday’s approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow these groups to receive an extra booster shot before the autumn vaccination drive.
The CDC advisory committee members voiced their support for the amendments, which call for the updated bivalent shots from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech to be recommended to all Americans over six years old, regardless of whether they have completed the two-dose course of the original vaccines.
The new vaccines offer protection against the original strain, as well as the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5. Monovalent mRNA vaccines, which only defend against the original strain of Covid-19, will no longer be recommended in the United States.
The FDA also recommended people to receive their first dose of the bivalent vaccine, as only 17% of eligible Americans have so far received the updated booster doses. The CDC had previously reported that the effectiveness of the bivalent vaccines has started to decline, particularly among vulnerable people. The FDA is set to announce decisions about future vaccinations for most Americans following recommendations from its advisory committee in June.
