Updated COVID Vaccines for 2024–2025 Get FDA Approval

New shots from Moderna and Pfizer are formulated to better protect against circulating strains of the virus.

woman getting vaccine
The new vaccines should be effective at fighting several FLiRT variants.Shutterstock
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday approved updated COVID-19 vaccines for the 2024–25 season from Pfizer and Moderna.

The new shots are expected to be available to the public no later than the end of next week, following an official sign-off by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

An updated Novavax vaccine, which uses a more traditional protein-based technology than the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA (messenger RNA) shots, is still under review by the FDA but is expected to be green-lighted soon.

“Vaccination continues to be the cornerstone of COVID-19 prevention,” said Peter Marks, MD, PhD,?the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, in a statement.

“Given waning immunity of the population from previous exposure to the virus and from prior vaccination, we strongly encourage those who are eligible to consider receiving an updated COVID-19 vaccine to provide better protection against currently circulating variants.”
Many Americans have been eager for the arrival of the new vaccines because of a summer wave of illness, with rates of test positivity running moderate to high throughout most of the country.

What’s Different About the New COVID-19 Shots?

The updated COVID-19 vaccines were designed to target JN.1 and KP.2, omicron virus variants that were dominant in the spring. Since then, KP3.1.1 and KP.3 have come to account for more than half of all infections.

KP3.1.1. and KP.3 are closely related to KP.2 — they all belong to a family of variants known as FLiRT, marked by similar mutations. Experts say the updated COVID shots should still be effective, especially compared with the current vaccines.

“The new vaccines are expected to provide much better protection than the ones that are out right now, based on the study that has been done to date,” says Robert Hopkins Jr., MD, the medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID). “We believe the shots are going to give us better defense as we go into this next year.”

Even if the virus keeps mutating to evade vaccination-induced immunity, the CDC suggests that the shots will continue to protect against severe disease, hospitalization, and death. The vaccines also may reduce a person’s chances of developing long COVID, a collection of symptoms that can last for months or even years after initial infection.

“The vaccine’s superpowers are in preventing serious disease and death,” says Peter Chin-Hong, MD, an infectious disease specialist and a professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine. “But there is some impact on reducing the risk of infections as well, depending on how closely matched the vaccine is to what is circulating in the community. Because the new vaccines are similar to what is in the community, you might expect to decrease the risk of infection by several weeks. Protection from serious disease may last up to a year or longer, depending on who you are.”

Who Should Get the New Vaccines?

The CDC advises that everyone age 6 months and older should get a 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine.

The federal agency especially urges vaccination for those who have a higher risk of becoming very sick from the virus. This includes adults age 65 and up, who account for more than 8 in 10 COVID-related deaths, and those who have weakened immune systems from conditions such as cancer, heart conditions, diabetes, chronic lung disease, or chronic kidney disease.

When it comes to serious illness, Dr. Hopkins stresses that no age group is free of risk. Federal data indicate that the group with the second highest rate of hospitalization is 50- to 64-year-olds, and children have the third highest rate.

“Children didn’t have as many deaths as other age groups, but they still had far more deaths from COVID than from flu, so I think it’s important that everyone 6 months of age and older get vaccinated,” says Hopkins.

When Should You Get Your COVID Shot?

While many people may want to get immunized as soon as possible to protect against the summer COVID wave, others may prefer to get their COVID shot along with their fall flu shot for convenience. Hopkins notes that some adults may opt to wait on their flu shot until later September or early October to be more assured that protection lasts for the entire flu season, which can extend well into spring.

For people who are at higher risk of severe illness, he advises not to wait, and to get the COVID shots as soon as they become available.

Fewer Than a Quarter of U.S. Adults Got Last Year’s Vaccine

Recent uptake of COVID vaccines has been slow. CDC numbers show that less than a quarter of adults age 18 and older received last year’s updated vaccine, and the percentage of children being inoculated was far less.

Hopkins warns that these dropping vaccination rates pose a public health threat. “As long as you have the virus infecting people, you’re going to continue to get mutations,” he says. “Less circulation of the virus is going to reduce the development of new variants. If we have a higher vaccinated population, well, then we would at least slow the virus from mutating.”

How Much Will the Vaccine Cost?

Although the out-of-pocket price for a vaccine is about $130, according to Dr. Chin-Hong, the vaccine should be free for most people — covered by private insurance, Medicaid, or Medicare.

Children under the age of 18 have all vaccines covered by a federal program regardless of their ability to pay.

Editorial Sources and Fact-Checking

Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.

Sources

  1. FDA Approves and Authorizes Updated mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines to Better Protect Against Currently Circulating Variants. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. August 22, 2024.
  2. Novavax Continues to Work With the U.S. FDA on Authorization of 2024–2025 Formula COVID-19 Vaccine. Novavax. August 22, 2024.
  3. Percent Positivity of COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests (NAATs) in the Past Week by HHS Region — United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. August 10, 2024.
  4. Variant Proportions. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. August 17, 2024.
  5. COVID-19 Vaccine Basics. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. July 12, 2024.
  6. Staying Up to Date With COVID-19 Vaccines. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. July 3, 2024.
  7. People With Certain Medical Conditions and COVID-19 Risk Factors. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. June 24, 2024.
  8. Havers FP. Laboratory-Confirmed COVID-19–Associated Hospitalizations Among Adults During SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2 Variant Predominance — COVID-19–Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network, 14 States, June 20, 2021–May 31, 2022. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. August 26, 2022.
  9. Adult Coverage and Intent. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. May 11, 2024.
  10. About the Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. June 26, 2024.
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Don Rauf

Author

Don Rauf has been a freelance health writer for over 12 years and his writing has been featured in HealthDay, CBS News, WebMD, U.S. News & World Report, Mental Floss, United Press International (UPI), Health, and MedicineNet. He was previously a reporter for DailyRx.com where he covered stories related to cardiology, diabetes, lung cancer, prostate cancer, erectile dysfunction, menopause, and allergies. He has interviewed doctors and pharmaceutical representatives in the U.S. and abroad.

He is a prolific writer and has written more than?50 books, including Lost America: Vanished Civilizations, Abandoned Towns, and Roadside Attractions. Rauf lives in Seattle, Washington.

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