The COVID variant known as Omicron XBB.1.5 keeps circulating, which is why Pfizer and Moderna decided to update their coronavirus vaccines in order to tackle it more efficiently. Therefore, it seemed like just a matter of time until the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would grant their approval to the updated vaccines.
FDA finally approved the updated COVID vaccines on Monday, while hospitalizations are on the rise, according to CNBC. Before people can have access to the updated vaccines in pharmacies, health care providers, and clinics, they need a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Americans should have the possibility to get vaccinated in just about a few days from now.
People aged 12 and older can get the new vaccines
The updated vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna are approved in the case of those who are at least 12 years old. The same vaccines are authorized under emergency use in the case of individuals 6 months through 11 years old.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) explained in a recent post:
The updated vaccines are expected to provide good protection against COVID-19 from the currently circulating variants. Barring the emergence of a markedly more virulent variant, the FDA anticipates that the composition of COVID-19 vaccines may need to be updated annually, as is done for the seasonal influenza vaccine.
Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., and also the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, stated, as the same source quotes:
he 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.
Almost 7 million people have died across the globe because of the COVID pandemic so far, according to data provided by worldometers.info.
