The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) has updated its published recommendations in response to the prior guidance on which vaccines should be used in this year’s autumn booster programme to include an additional bivalent vaccine that has since been approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
Studies show that compared to the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA Original ‘wild-type’ vaccine, the bivalent Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine somewhat boosts immune responses against specific variations. These little variations’ therapeutic significance is debatable.
Global vaccine producers have created “bivalent” vaccinations since the Omicron variety emerged and gained supremacy.
These vaccines are designed to protect against antigens from two distinct COVID-19 strains or variations, or chemicals that elicit an immune response.
All of the booster vaccinations that are now on the market provide excellent defence against severe COVID-19 disease.
The committee will take their inclusion in the fall schedule into consideration when new vaccinations are produced.
The JCVI’s Chair of COVID-19 Immunization, Professor Wei Shen Lim, stated:
We now have another choice to add to the vaccinations previously indicated for the fall booster campaign, which is really positive as additional vaccines continue to become accessible.
Respiratory infections often pose their biggest hazard throughout the winter.
Every person who is qualified should have their booster shot this fall, when it is available.
This is our greatest line of defence against contracting COVID-19 and becoming really sick.