CDC recommends new COVID-19, pneumococcal vaccines
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Key takeaways:
- New COVID-19 vaccines for 2024-2025 will target JN.1 variants of SARS-CoV-2.
- A newly approved 21-valent pneumococcal vaccine was recommended for high-risk adults.
The CDC on Thursday recommended updated COVID-19 vaccines for the 2024-2025 respiratory season, and a newly approved 21-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for adults.
CDC Director Mandy K. Cohen, MD, MPH, signed off on the unanimous 11-0 votes by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) in favor of the new COVID-19 vaccine formulations — which target variants of SARS-CoV-2 circulating in the United States, most of which are descendants of JN.1 — and Merck’s new pneumococcal shot.
Although the committee discussed moving toward a risk-based strategy for its COVID-19 vaccine recommendations, it stuck with a universal recommendation for everyone aged 6 months or older.
Uptake of the 2023-2024 vaccine has been low, with just 22.5% of adults and 14.1% of children in the U.S. receiving it.
ACIP voting member Jamie Loehr, MD, FAACP, owner of Cayuga Family Medicine in Ithaca, New York, said he had been in favor of a risk-based approach, but public comment changed his mind.
“It seems that at least the public who are commenting are very in favor of a universal recommendation and want the opportunity to get their vaccine,” Loehr said.
With the CDC’s Bridge Access Program expected to end in August 2024, the cost of COVID-19 vaccines for consumers without health insurance is expected to increase, which ACIP members raised concerns about.
The new COVID-19 vaccines are expected to be available in late August or early September, based on CDC and FDA recommendations, and the hope, according to the CDC, is that an earlier rollout compared with prior years may improve vaccine uptake in the 2024-2025 respiratory season.
The CDC recommended the 21-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for people aged 19 years or older. The new shot, which was approved earlier this month, is specifically made for adults and covers serotypes not included in the other available vaccines that older adults may be more likely to acquire.
The ACIP considered several recommendations for the vaccine and landed on recommending a single dose as an option for adults aged 65 years or older who have not previously received a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, adults aged 19 years or older with risk factors who have not previously been vaccinated or who started their pneumococcal vaccine series with the 13-valent vaccine but have not yet received the recommended doses of the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine.
The committee noted that pneumococcal vaccination can be confusing because there are so many options.
“Speaking as a practicing physician, pneumococcal vaccination for adults is the most complicated vaccination recommendations we have,” said Sandra A. Fryhofer, MD, adjunct associate professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and AMA liaison to the ACIP. “I think having a different age group for PCV20 than for PCV21 would add much confusion. And as has been mentioned, PCV21 is not PCV20 — it’s a totally different vaccine.”
References:
- FDA. Updated COVID-19 vaccines for use in the United States beginning in fall 2024. https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/updated-covid-19-vaccines-use-united-states-beginning-fall-2024. Published June 13, 2024. Accessed June 27, 2024.
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