United States: The flu and COVID vaccines, which Moderna developed, elicited a robust immune response in older people. It is up to the levels recorded in people who had both shots from the flu and COVID vaccines separately, according to the company’s data from the last stages of human trials.
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However, it would still take several more steps before the shot would indeed come out of the basket.
Moderna would have to seek permission from the FDA to carry out the study, and the FDA might solicit the opinion of this independent committee, as ABC News reported.
If approved or allowed, then the shot would also require permission from the CDC before it is made available.
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Such a combination involving messenger RNA technology produced more antibodies than marketed traditional flu vaccines and Moderna’s Spikevax mRNA CoVID shot, according to the firm.
The vaccine, designated as mRNA-1083, demonstrated stronger immunity against two A strains and one B strain of the flu in people over 65 years old compared to the common flu shots manufactured by GSK and Sanofi, as per the company, as globalnews.ca reported.
In March, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urged drug makers to focus on three strains, H1N1, H3N2, and B/Victoria, for the formulation of seasonal flu vaccines for the year 2024.
The most recent data was obtained from two more arms of a larger study set of approximately 8,000: one that compared the effectiveness of the combination to GSK’s Fluarix in the 50-year-old and above age group, and the other was a trial made on patients 65 years and above against Sanofi’s Fluzone HD.
Another type of flu shot is Fluzone, a high-dose shot designed for seniors.
The elderly population is the most vulnerable
It is also important to understand that the risk increases, and the elderly population bears the brunt of severe respiratory diseases, including hospitalization and mortality. The efficacy of the combo vaccine was evaluated in comparison to the currently accredited and auspicate flu as well as COVID vaccines, as stated by ABC News.
All individuals greater than six months of age were advised to receive a flu vaccine and a COVID vaccine if it has been more than six months since their last COVID vaccine dose.
It will be again this fall as the CDC anticipates that it will issue fresh suggestions on the flu and the COVID vaccine. It is necessary to mention that COVID and flu vaccines can be administered as separate doses during the same appointment, and, under certain conditions, a combination shot could be advisable for the patient.
The latest survey on the side effects demonstrate that the commonest ones associated with the combo shot developed by Moderna include pain at the site of administration, fatigue, muscle ache and head ache.