Counselors from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) met this Thursday (yesterday) to discuss simplification of vaccination schedules for COVID. This new proposal to the public health of the U.S. public is a new bivalent vaccine (Pfizer /Moderna vaccine). 19.
Currently, U.S. citizens aged 6 months and older must receive a complete schedule of primary immunization series (Moderna, Pfizer, Novavax vaccine, or Johnson vaccine at least) to receive a bivalent vaccine. 2 doses) must be received. In other words, the option to vaccinate with the new bivalent booster is conditional on prior action.
A new proposal would change that situation by omitting that condition. If the FDA engineers’ proposal is approved, everyone will be able to choose to apply for the new vaccine this year, regardless of vaccination status. However, for some groups, such as the elderly, immunocompromised, and young children (under 2 years old), he recommends 2 primary vaccinations before the bivalent vaccine.
Experts in the field of immunization said the new FDA proposal would greatly simplify the country’s COVID vaccination schedule, aligning it with the annual flu vaccination schedule. In addition, the new proposal is consistent with annual vaccination against influenza, suggesting that the FDA annually update his COVID vaccine according to the variant currently dominating circulation of the virus. We are considering. Currently, the bivalent vaccine, developed separately by Moderna and Pfizer, protects against the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, in addition to protecting against the original strain of coronavirus identified in Wuhan, China in late 2019. To do. The first series of monovalent vaccines specifically protect only against this Wuhan strain.
This move by the FDA will not only improve access to immunizations, but also public acceptance, according to global immunization experts. On the one hand, unconditional application of new primary series vaccines will save the public from having to look for the original series vaccines at vaccination centers and pharmacies. On the one hand, it eliminates confusion among users about different types of vaccines.
Personally, I have been consulted by many people about the type and frequency of vaccines, and I have witnessed the continued use of “made in China” vaccines at public health centers in Japan. Like the US population, the population of El Salvador no doubt suffers from some degree of confusion regarding vaccination against COVID. We all know that suspicion and confusion breed distrust, which in turn affects the degree of acceptance of proposed medical interventions. Especially if it’s new.
This pandemic has created and continues to create fear, distress and mistrust among all sectors of the population. This is not only due to the inability of the scientific and medical sectors to clearly communicate the benefits and risks of various treatments for this new disease, but also to the ill will of those influential, whether ignorant or not. Some criminal misinformation is also responsible, pursuing dark ends motivated by political or sectarian religious agendas.
El Salvador’s current government has the advantage of being accepted by the majority of the Salvadoran population, relying on the figure of its leader, the current president. Its means of governance and strategies are often bold and innovative, for better or worse. In some cases, it has been very successful, for example in the field of tourism. Given this government predisposition, it would be an opportune time to review and redeploy the strategy of vaccination programs. Maybe the Minister of Tourism is in command.
Source: Diario.Elmundo
