Oct 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday recommended expanding the use of vaccines to adults between 50-64 years to protect against pneumococcal disease.
The agency's earlier recommendation for vaccination was for adults 65 years or older and children younger than 5, as well as for children and adults with certain conditions.
While they may not be a perfect match, the latest variants have enough in common with the KP.2 and JN.1 that the boosters should still offer effective cross-protection.
A team led by US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) researchers studying Medicare claims data during the early Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant months conclude that a third dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine provides significant protection against hospitalization and death compared with two doses but wanes substantially after 4 months.
XEC, like countless others before it, is a part of the omicron family. The variant is closely related to KP.2, the strain targeted by the updated vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. And both XEC and KP.1 are descendants of the JN.1 strain, targeted by the updated Novavax vaccine.
“I think we have good reason to think that there will be substantial protection from the boosters that are available,” Hanage said.
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