FDA OKs new Covid vaccine, available soon

Pharmacist prepares Covid-19 vaccine at Safeway

Public health officials say everyone six months and up should get the new Pfizer or Moderna booster

(Image credit: Kim Hairston / The Baltimore Sun / Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

published 23 August 2024

What happened

The Food and Drug Administration approved updated Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna yesterday. The new boosters target the KP.2 strain and related offshoots of the Omicron variant that have been spreading in late summer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the new shot for everyone six months and older.

Last year's vaccines, which inoculated against a strain no longer in circulation, "offered moderate protection against getting infected" and a "stronger guard against severe disease," The New York Times said. When the match between virus and vaccine "is very good, as we anticipate it would be with the current circulating strains, you get actual protection from infection for several months," said Dr. Paul Sax at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

The updated vaccines should be available in pharmacies and clinics within days, at no cost to most people with health insurance and uninsured children. But "unless you're very concerned about acquiring Covid right now, my recommendation would be to get it in September or October," Dr. William Schaffner at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine said to The Wall Street Journal. "That will provide the best protection throughout the winter season."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.