Following the Food and Drug Administration’s July 13 emergency use authorization of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine, Adjuvanted, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) unanimously recommended the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine for people 18 years and older. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, endorsed the ACIP’s recommendation July 19, the final step in the U.S. vaccine authorization process before the vaccine can be offered to the public.
“If you have been waiting for a COVID-19 vaccine built on a different technology than those previously available, now is the time to join the millions of Americans who have been vaccinated,” Walensky said in a statement. “With COVID-19 cases on the rise again across parts of the country, vaccination is critical to help protect against the complications of severe COVID-19 disease.”
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Biden-Harris administration already has secured 3.2 million vaccine doses, which will be available at no cost to states, jurisdictions, federal pharmacy partners, and federally qualified health centers.
CDC Releases New Study About Booster Vaccine Efficacy Against BA.2 Subvariant
Receiving additional mRNA COVID-19 vaccine booster doses increased protection against moderate and severe COVID-19, CDC reported in a July 22 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
A two-dose primary series of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine was less effective during the period when the BA.2 subvariant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was dominant, than during the BA.1-predominant period. However, a third vaccine dose provided additional protection against moderate and severe COVID-19 illness in all age groups, and adults ages 50 and older, who were eligible for a fourth dose, received even greater protection.
CDC recommends immunocompetent people receive booster doses immediately upon eligibility to prevent moderate to severe COVID-19 cases.
HHS Elevates Existing ASPR Office to Operating Division
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra July 22 elevated the existing Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response to a standalone agency, now called the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR). The transition, which will occur over the next one to two years, will allow the agency to mobilize more efficient and effective responses to national disasters and public health emergencies.
Visit the America’s Essential Hospitals coronavirus resource page for more information about the pandemic.
Contact Senior Director of Policy Erin O’Malley at eomalley@essentialhospitals.org or 202.585.0127 with questions.
