The United States Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) approved this Wednesday the new version of Pfizer and Moderna ‘s covid-19 vaccines for the omicron variant, with a view to a new immunization campaign against the disease.
The two updated vaccines were authorized for a booster dose, starting at 12 years old from Pfizer and starting at 18 years old from Moderna, explained the US drug agency, the FDA, in a statement.
The new generation of vaccines targets both the original strain of covid-19 and the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of ómicron.
Therefore, they should “provide greater protection against the currently circulating omicron variant,” the FDA said in a statement.
Last June, the US Department of Health announced that it had bought 105 million doses from Pfizer and 66 million from Moderna for use during the fall and winter.
Vaccines have not yet been recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the main US public health agency.
The CDC convened a committee of independent experts to discuss the issue on Thursday.
After carrying out these consultations, the director of the agency, Rochelle Walensky, will be in charge of giving it the definitive green light.
Pfizer and Moderna have also submitted an authorization application for this updated version of their vaccine to the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
When are booster vaccinations planned?
This new version of the immunizers could be available next week in the country .
The vaccines currently circulating were designed to protect against the initial strain of the virus that was first reported in late 2019 in Wuhan, China.
But little by little they have been less effective against the variants that appeared over time, due to the rapid evolution of the virus.
Unlike the alpha and delta variants, which eventually gave way, omicron and its sub-variants have gradually dominated infections in 2022 around the world.
