An updated selection of coronavirus vaccines has been approved by health officials and should be available from Wednesday for all Americans aged six months and upwards.
President Joe Biden used a statement from the White House to give his enthusiastic endorsement to the new vaccines. He described the announcement as marking “another important milestone” in the “fight against the virus.”
Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) endorsed the new shots and the agency’s director has signed off on the panel’s recommendation, AP reports.
The updated Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines form part of a strategy the CDC claims remains the best protection against coronavirus-related death and hospitalization as well as reduces the chances of suffering from the effects of so-called Long COVID, UPI reports.
“If you have not received a COVID-19 vaccine in the past 2 months, get an updated COVID-19 vaccine to protect yourself this fall and winter,” the CDC said in a statement.
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The announcement was made a day after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration signed off on the updated shot on Monday.
The federal regulator said it was “confident in the safety and effectiveness” of the updated vaccines and its benefit-risk assessment “demonstrates that the benefits of these vaccines for individuals 6 months of age and older outweigh their risks.”
“As we head into fall and winter, we are in our strongest position yet with more tools and systems available than every before — including safe and effective vaccines, widely available at-home tests and effective treatments,” he said, while encouraging “all Americans to stay up-to-date on their vaccines.”
The CDC added this is the first winter when vaccines have been available for COVID-19, RSV and influenza — the three viruses responsible for most hospitalizations.