COVID-19 vaccine pipeline could bring more changes to ‘menu of options’
[Editor’s note: This is a companion article to our recent story on the future of COVID-19 vaccine recommendations in the United States, which you can read here .]
Given the nuances of COVID-19 vaccine protection, Kizzmekia Corbett-Helaire, PhD, an assistant professor of immunology and infectious diseases at Harvard's School of Public Health, said the U.S. “should remain diligent in reviewing efficacy and safety data of each COVID-19 vaccine update to make progressional recommendations.”
“As the endemic [phase] continues, I believe it is fair to eventually reach a point of which COVID-19 boosters are only recommended for the most at-risk populations,” Corbett-Helaire told Healio.
What other changes might come?
In June, Moderna announced positive data from a phase 3 trial of its combination messenger RNA vaccine against COVID-19 and influenza, saying the shot has the potential to make vaccination more convenient for patients and providers.
According to Healio | Infectious Disease News Editorial Board Member Peter Chin-Hong, MD, around one-quarter of adults and three-quarters of children have a needle phobia.
“I think the move toward vaccine combinations will result in reducing needle burden,” Chin-Hong said.
Also this past summer, the NIH announced that it had begun enrollment on a phase 1 trial testing the safety of an experimental nasal vaccine for COVID-19, one of several intranasal vaccines in development.
Chin-Hong said a nasal vaccine “would also be a helpful adjunct to the menu of options we currently have.”
“More work into producing needle-free vaccines for COVID would be a welcome advance,” he said.
References:
- Moderna announces positive phase 3 data for combination vaccine against influenza and COVID-19. https://investors.modernatx.com/news/news-details/2024/Moderna-Announces-Positive-Phase-3-Data-for-Combination-Vaccine-Against-Influenza-and-COVID-19-/default.aspx. Published June 10, 2024. Accessed Aug. 28, 2024.
- NIH-sponsored trial of nasal COVID-19 vaccine opens. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-sponsored-trial-nasal-covid-19-vaccine-opens. Published June 1, 2024. Accessed Aug. 28, 2024.
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