{"id":1471254,"date":"2024-06-14T21:15:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-15T01:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1471254"},"modified":"2024-06-14T21:15:00","modified_gmt":"2024-06-15T01:15:00","slug":"fda-changes-course-advises-updated-covid-19-vaccines-target-kp-2-strain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/fda-changes-course-advises-updated-covid-19-vaccines-target-kp-2-strain\/1471254\/","title":{"rendered":"FDA Changes Course, Advises Updated COVID-19 Vaccines Target KP.2 Strain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden\">FDA Changes Course, Advises Updated COVID-19 Vaccines Target KP.2 Strain<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item\">\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/fda-changes-course-advises-updated-covid-19-vaccines-target-kp-2-strain-5668714?utm_source=partner&amp;utm_campaign=ZeroHedge&amp;src_src=partner&amp;src_cmp=ZeroHedge\">Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times<\/a> (emphasis ours),<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cms.zerohedge.com\/s3\/files\/inline-images\/image_92%28667%29.jpg?itok=WboESdmU\"><em>A healthcare worker prepares a COVID-19 vaccine in New York City in a file photograph. (Michael M. Santiago\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on June 13 changed course and recommended COVID-19 manufacturers target the KP.2 virus strain in their next round of shots.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The regulatory agency had said earlier this month it was following advice from its advisers and directing manufacturers to target the JN.1 variant.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The change \u201cis intended to ensure that the COVID-19 vaccines (2024-2025 Formula) more closely match circulating SARS-CoV-2 strains,\u201d<\/strong> the regulators said. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19.<\/p>\n<p>The change is \u201cbased on the most current available data, along with the recent rise in cases of COVID-19 in areas of the country,\u201d the FDA said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>The regulators, though, said manufacturers could choose whether or not to target KP.2, a sublineage of JN.1.<\/p>\n<p>That likely means consumers will be presented with different vaccines in the fall, which the FDA\u2019s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee advised against.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do think about some potential for confusion, particularly if there were different variants included in different vaccines,\u201d Dr. Archana Chatterjee, one of the advisers, said during the committee\u2019s recent meeting. \u201cThere\u2019s enough confusion already about this vaccine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pfizer and Moderna, which produce modified messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines, have said they can produce vaccines targeting KP.2 or JN.1. However, Novavax, which makes a protein-based vaccine, has said it developed a JN.1 vaccine and would not be able to shift to a KP.2-based product in time for the fall. Protein-based vaccines require more manufacturing time than mRNA shots.<\/p>\n<p>JN.1 was displaced in May in the United States by KP.2 and KP.3, two sublineages, according to estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of June 8, KP.3 was responsible for a quarter of the cases in the United States, and KP.2 was responsible for 22.5 percent of the cases in the country, according to the estimates.<\/p>\n<p>The strains LB.1 and XDV.1 are also on the rise.<\/p>\n<p>Advisers had noted that by the time the vaccines are available in September, the circulating strains might be different. That\u2019s one reason they recommended targeting JN.1.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we\u2019re going to stick with a monovalent for now, the trunk of the tree is the best bet,\u201d said Dr. Bruce Gellin, another adviser.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Some advisers said they thought the new vaccines should contain multiple strains, but FDA officials rejected that advice and said the new shots will be monovalent.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The currently available vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna, and Novavax target the XBB.1.5, which was displaced in 2023 before the shots were brought to the market. They have been taken by 22.5 percent of adults and 14.4 percent of children, according to government surveys. The effectiveness of the vaccines quickly drops, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/health\/effectiveness-of-currently-available-covid-19-vaccines-plunges-over-time-cdc-data-5662938\">data<\/a> presented at the FDA meeting. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/vaccines\/imz-managers\/coverage\/covidvaxview\/interactive\/vaccination-dashboard.html\">delete<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Officials say the vaccines will likely be updated once a year moving forward in a bid to counter waning effectiveness.<\/p>\n<h2>New Studies<\/h2>\n<p>The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, meanwhile, announced Thursday it is committing $500 million for clinical trials evaluating experimental vaccines against COVID-19. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.gov\/about\/news\/2024\/06\/13\/barda-awards-500-million-project-nextgen-funding-vaccine-clinical-trials.html\">delete<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>The vaccines are administered as a nasal spray or a pill, while the shots on the market are administered by needle.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The bulk of the money is going to California-based Vaxart, which is developing a pill vaccine.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>New York-based Castlevax and Georgia-based Cyanvac are also receiving funds for their intranasal vaccine candidates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are making progress on the development of cutting-edge treatments, such as vaccines administered as a nasal spray or as a pill,\u201c Health Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. \u201dThe Biden-Harris Administration won\u2019t stop until we have the next generation of innovative vaccines, therapeutics, and other tools to protect against COVID-19, or any other pathogen that could threaten the American public.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>      <span class=\"field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden\"><a title=\"View user profile.\" href=\"https:\/\/cms.zerohedge.com\/users\/tyler-durden\" class=\"username\">Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden\">Fri, 06\/14\/2024 &#8211; 17:15<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u200b<a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/covid-19\/fda-changes-course-advises-updated-covid-19-vaccines-target-kp2-strain\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/covid-19\/fda-changes-course-advises-updated-covid-19-vaccines-target-kp2-strain<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FDA Changes Course, Advises Updated COVID-19 Vaccines Target KP.2 Strain Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), A healthcare worker prepares a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1471255,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1471254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbimBl-6aJU","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/06\/image_922866729-KpAnkG.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1471254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1471254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1471254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1471255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1471254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1471254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1471254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}