New COVID vaccines get FDA approval for 2024-2025 season

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved updated COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer for the 2024-2025 season.

The updated mRNA vaccines, Comirnaty and Spikevax, were fully approved for people 12 years and older, while the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine were granted emergency authorization for children 6 months through 11 years of age, according to an FDA announcement released today.

The monovalent (single) vaccines are designed to target the Omicron variant KP.2 strain of SARS-CoV-2.

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"These vaccines were updated to provide better protection against COVID-19 caused by circulating variants," the FDA stated.

"Vaccination continues to be the cornerstone of COVID-19 prevention," said Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, in the FDA announcement. 

"These updated vaccines meet the agency’s rigorous scientific standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality."

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"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."

Dr. Marc Siegel, senior medical analyst for Fox News and clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, recommends the updated COVID vaccines for high-risk groups.

"I believe the vaccines remain effective at decreasing risks of severe disease and long COVID, and should especially be considered in high-risk groups, including those with chronic diseases and the elderly," he told Fox News Digital. 

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"Beyond this, it should be a personal choice, a discussion between doctor and patient, keeping in mind that viral load and transmission does decrease somewhat in the period after immunization."

While the side effects of the vaccine have been "highly publicized," Siegel stated that the risks of the virus — including myocarditis and brain fog — are far greater, and the vaccine decreases those risks. 

"It's far from perfect, but still quite useful," the doctor said. 

"There is a big upsurge of COVID FLirt subvariants right now, and the vaccine specifically covers these."

The CDC recommends that everyone 6 months of age and older receives the updated COVID-19 vaccination.

That includes women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. 

As of the week ending Aug. 10, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 18.1% of COVID tests were positive.

Meanwhile, 2.4% of those visiting emergency departments were diagnosed as COVID-19 — a drop of 1.5% from the prior week.

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The percentage of deaths related to COVID was 1.9%, per the CDC, up from 1.6% the prior week.

Individuals should speak with their doctor if they have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine, the agency stated.