The Biden administration plans to urge all Americans to get a booster shot for the coronavirus this autumn to counter a new wave of infections, a White House official said on Sunday.
The official said that while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are reporting an increase in infections and hospital admissions from the virus, overall levels remain low.
On Thursday, Moderna (MRNA.O) said initial data showed its updated COVID-19 vaccine is effective against the “Eris” and “Fornax” subvariants in humans.
Moderna and other COVID-19 vaccine makers Novavax (NVAX.O), Pfizer (PFE.N) and German partner BioNTech SE (22UAy.DE) have created versions of their shots aimed at the XBB.1.5 subvariant.
Pending approval from health regulators in the United States and Europe, the companies expect the updated shots to be available in the coming weeks for the autumn vaccination season.
“We will be encouraging all Americans to get those boosters in addition to flu shots and RSV shots,” the official said, referring to the Respiratory Syncytial Virus.
It’s not a new thing, but I think the shots were mainly given to kids in the past.But the symptoms can mimic Covid, so I think they have started advising more adults to get the shots.RSV isn’t a new thing, but the vaccine apparently is. See the reply. Below
This is completely wrong. The RSV vaccine was not approved until May of 2023. The push to release this vaccine, and for older adults to receive it is tangentially related to COVID in multiple ways.
First, the COVID lockdowns caused a massive resurgent wave of RSV infections in both young children and older adults due to the fact that it is a childhood illness with some degree of lifelong immunity that wanes as the virus mutates over time as well as from the degradation of your immune system as you age. When that infection chain in younger children was broken it had consequences on the intensity and mutation of the virus that were not necessarily unprecedented, but perhaps unexpected. This is what lead to a large number of very serious infections in younger children, and then older people in a very short amount of time. I’m not a scientist, but you can look up the statistics for yourself if you’re interested.
Secondarily, the research into COVID vaccines as well as this rise in rebound cases of RSV spurred on the push to study, test, and release these RSV vaccines for adults over the age of 60 who were most at risk. These vaccines have not been approved for children, or anyone under the age of 60 in any country in the world thus far. Again, I am not a scientist, and I do not understand the complexities that lead to so many failures in producing an effective vaccine for RSV when it has been attempted since at least the 1960’s. However, I do know that a previous RSV vaccine that went through human trials in children caused deaths from severe immune responses when patients experienced natural infection. So it is unlikely any vaccine will be created that is either capable or intended to provide prophylactic protection from native infection in children. The current vaccines are intended to strengthen the already existing immune response in adults only, and those are two somewhat different things.
Edit (Additional Information and Citations):
[https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanmic/article/PIIS2666-5247(23)00195-7/fulltext#:~:text=On May 3%2C 2023%2C the,Union on June 7%2C 2023]
[https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/17/health/rsv-infants-fda.html]
[https://www.astrazeneca.com/what-science-can-do/topics/covid-19/covid-19-difference-between-antibodies-and-vaccines.html#:~:text=Vaccines are a type of active immunity.&text=They require a healthy immune,to produce infection-fighting cells.&text=Monoclonal antibodies are a type of passive immunity.]
You are 100% full of shit. The RSV vaccine has not caused infant deaths. Stop spreading vaccine fear without checking your facts.
[https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-rsv-drug-nirsevimab-clinical-trials-babies-died-649869418399]
A quick google search shows that the RSV vaccine was recently approved for babies. And I know for a fact the RSV vaccine was given to high risk infants last year.
Edit: While I thank you for editing to remove the bullshit about the vaccine killing infants, referencing 2 vaccine deaths from a trial in the 1960s adds nothing to the conversation besides confusion.
An older RSV vaccine that made it to human trials absolutely caused deaths in children from severe immune responses. I never said these modern vaccines had done so did I? No, because they were not designed for use in children…
Also, the drug that is being used to treat infants is a monoclonal antibody drug, and is not the same action mechanism as the vaccines being used in seniors. Those are two different treatment pathways. Perhaps you should have read my comment further before speaking out of your ass to attack me.
Here you go, from The Lancet:
“…a formalin-inactivated vaccine caused severe lung inflammatory responses during natural RSV infection in children, leading to two infant deaths. Alternative RSV vaccine development was therefore hindered for many decades over safety concerns.”
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanmic/article/PIIS2666-5247(23)00195-7/fulltext#:~:text=On May 3%2C 2023%2C the,Union on June 7%2C 2023.
You absolutely did say that the trials killed infants. You only suddenly started mentioning a trial from sixty fucking years ago because I called you out. How does an ancient trial have any bearing on today’s vaccines? Why bother? Why did you say specifically that vaccines were only approved for seniors when they have been approved for babies? What is your motive for spreading confusion?
Do you know how to fucking read? You literally DID NOT read my initial post. Why? Because you are either a moron, or because you wanted to dunk on me because you think for some unknown reason that I’m an “anti-vaxxer”. I’m not, and if you had actually read what I said you would understand that, but you didn’t because you wanted to jerk yourself off instead.
Also, how dare you insinuate that I changed my post because you “called me out”. I couldn’t give a french fried fuck. You misunderstanding what I was initially referring to was the problem, which is exactly why I added the citations. I never brought up the monoclonal antibody treatment at all until your ass got here, and your revisionist take on my original post is fucking bullshit. You are being disingenuous at best.
People can downvote the ACTUAL SCIENCE all they want. Kids still died from previous RSV trials, there is absolutely zero dispute about that. As much as people want to champion vaccines as a panacea, there is a reason that many viruses have eluded mankind’s ability to design prophylactic treatments against them. Simply because you don’t like that doesn’t all of a sudden make your bullshit post that there was a VACCINE for RSV that was approved for INFANTS anymore true. It isn’t, you’re fucking wrong.
Once again, there IS NOT a vaccine approved for infants. It is a MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY DRUG. They are ENTIRELY DIFFERENT THINGS.
Vaccines - Provide active prophylactic protection against viruses.
Monoclonal Antibodies - Provide passive protection & immune system support that can protect against serious illness, but do not provide prophylactic immunity against a virus in the same way as vaccines.
Since you have a smooth brain I will make that even simpler for you: GO READ THE FUCKING CITATIONS I PROVIDED IN MY INITIAL POST.