FDA Licenses First At-Home Administered Influenza Vaccine
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has licensed the first of its kind live attenuated nasal spray influenza vaccine that can be administered at home. Adults up to the age 49 will be eligible to self-administer the FluMist Home vaccine or give it to their children two to 17 years old as long as […]
CDC Narrows RSV Vaccine Guidelines Due to Safety Concerns
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recently narrowed its original recommendations for the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, citing concerns over the risk of a side effect that can lead to paralysis or death. The recommendations originally stated adults over the age of 60 should receive the vaccine, but updates in […]
WHO Declares Monkeypox a Global Health Emergency
On Aug. 14, 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared monkeypox (mpox) a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). “Today, the Emergency Committee met and advised me that in its view, the situation constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,1 2 3 […]
FDA Licenses Merck’s Capvaxive Pneumococcal Vaccine
On June 17, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) licensed Merck & Company, Inc.’s new pneumococcal conjugate vaccine Capvaxive (formerly V116) for adults 18 years of age and older. The vaccine is designed to protect against 21 types of the bacteria causing pneumococcal disease, which can lead to severe infection in the lungs […]
RSV Vaccines for Senior Adults Linked to Guillain-Barré Syndrome
On Feb. 29, 2024, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) presented a preliminary analysis that showed that 23 adults over the age of 65 who received a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine developed Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS).1 When a person develops GBS, including after an infection or […]
CDC’s ACIP Vaccine Advisory Panel Lacks Leader and Voting Members
In making decisions about which vaccines should or should not be given to people and when developing childhood, adolescent and adult vaccination schedules, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) heavily relies on recommendations provided by an outside group of 15 medical and public health professionals, who make up a panel known as […]