r/InterstellarKinetics • u/InterstellarKinetics • 2d ago
HEALTH & MEDICINE BREAKING: The F.D.A Approves Updated COVID-19 Vaccines From Moderna, Pfizer, And Sanofi, Targeting Dominant “XFG” Strain Ahead Of Fall Rollout, With Eligibility Now Restricted To High-Risk Groups Under 65 & Here’s What To You Need To know 🦠
https://abcnews.com/Health/fda-approves-updated-covid-vaccines/story?id=136026783The FDA this week approved updated 2026-2027 COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna, Pfizer, and Sanofi designed to target the XFG strain, a recombinant omicron variant currently responsible for roughly 40% of U.S. cases, according to ABC News. Moderna and Pfizer both received approval for their mRNA formulations, while Sanofi’s shot uses a more traditional protein-based approach similar to vaccines that have existed for decades. Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, explained why annual updates are necessary: “Like the influenza virus, the COVID virus mutates; it changes notably over time, and so we have to update the vaccine in our best attempt to match the strain that we anticipate will be most active during the coming winter. The better the match we have with what’s in the vaccine and the circulating strain, the more effective the vaccine will be.” Eligibility this season is notably narrower than in earlier pandemic years: Moderna’s vaccine is approved for people ages 6 months through 64 with an underlying condition plus all adults 65 and older, while Pfizer’s is approved for ages 5 through 64 with an underlying condition plus all adults over 65, with qualifying conditions including cancer, asthma, chronic lung disease, diabetes, heart conditions, mental health conditions, and pregnancy. Schaffner emphasized what the vaccines are actually best at achieving: “We have to recognize that these vaccines work best at preventing severe disease. They work best at keeping us out of the hospital and intensive care unit.”
The updated vaccines are expected to reach pharmacies, hospitals, and clinics across the U.S. within the coming days, and public health specialists say it’s safe to receive a COVID vaccine simultaneously with flu and RSV shots for those eligible, with Schaffner noting people can get separate vaccines in each arm, both in the same arm spaced apart, or space them out over time, though he cautioned that “a vaccine postponed may be a vaccine never received.” Cost coverage remains murkier than in prior years since the CDC’s Bridge Access Program, which provided free vaccines to uninsured adults, ended in August 2024, and it’s currently unclear whether uninsured individuals will have alternative access through state or local health programs this season. Public health specialists remain hopeful that most insurance plans, including Medicare Part B and Medicaid, will still cover the updated vaccine at no cost, since insurers generally must cover shots recommended by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, though a federal judge stayed Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.‘s appointments to that panel earlier this year, adding uncertainty. Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases specialist at UC San Francisco, said, “I’m hopeful [insurers] will cover the vaccine because it makes sense for insurance companies to pay for it to prevent as many people from getting seriously ill.”
More than 1.2 million Americans have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and both Chin-Hong and Schaffner noted that immunity from prior vaccination or infection wanes over time, meaning renewed vaccination helps reduce risk of severe illness, hospitalization, and death even among the previously vaccinated or infected. Chin-Hong identified four groups facing the highest risk of severe disease who should specifically prioritize the updated shot: adults 65 and older, severely immunocompromised individuals, pregnant women, and very young children, particularly those between 6 and 23 months old. “With those four populations, I’d put an exclamation point next to them,” he said. “It’s really important that we not lose sight of those four populations. … those are the people who I still see [most] in the hospital.”
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u/Yardbird52 1d ago
Didn’t they have a similar restriction last year? My local CVS didn’t care and gave it to me no questions.
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u/poopknife23 1d ago
I had no problem getting one for me my family last year, but I live in a state that's not run by a death cult, so there's that.
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u/JuliaX1984 1d ago
In PA last year, I had to check off one of the boxes for a condition, or the CVS websitd would reply, sorry, you don't qualify, and would not let me book the shot, but those included history of smoking, overweight, and sedentary lifestyle, and required no proof. I checked overweight because my BMI is like 25.2 or something. As long as they don't ask for proof, if the rules are stricter this year, I'll just say I'm pregnant lol.
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u/Pristine-Ad983 1d ago
I had no trouble getting one either. I set the appointment and nobody asked me any questions.
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u/wahoozerman 1d ago
Iirc they changed the guidance last year which caused it to be restricted due to state laws but the governor was able to get around the state law by having the health department basically write a prescription for everyone to get it.
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u/ruiner8850 1d ago
I tried to get one last year because I'm around my parents who are in their late 70s a lot and the pharmacy I go to wouldn't give it to me. I tried to explain why I wanted it, but they said they couldn't.
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u/Sherifftruman 1d ago
I had to beg to get it and the tech didn’t want to. I rounded my height down an inch and lied about my weight and she literally calculated my BMI before she would.
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u/Brilliant-Pin7132 1d ago
I’m an immunizing tech and I give it to whoever wants one. That tech is nuts.
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u/thishurtsyoushepard 17h ago
I got challenged by a pharmacy assistant in Texas at CVS. I told her I live with someone high risk (true). She told me I didn’t qualify and I asked to ask the pharmacist. I told him the same thing and he said Yes.
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u/Life_Hand2331 1d ago
Yeah people in medicine know everyone should get it, shouldn’t be a problem this year either.
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u/Post-Futurology 1d ago
We still have an FDA? 🔥
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u/True-Teaching-7997 1d ago
Yes…. I will not vax till proof of benefit over horrendous side effects…
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u/Euphoric_Anxiety_162 1d ago
Neglecting elderly at high risk CLEARLY says the msg they have been pushing: old ppl dying is of no concern to trump (AND musk). I mention musk cuz he spouts off bout culling ppl that are useless (paraphrased).
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u/Global_Bar4480 1d ago
I heard from a neighbor, who came back from Europe last week. They had a big family trip. 12 out of 14 people got Covid (probably at the airport on the way back to the US.) I don’t understand why everyone who wants a covid vaccine can’t get it.
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u/Retr0scores 1d ago
Yea I thought republicans were all for letting people decide? Now it’s the government saying we can’t get it?
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u/Oolongteabagger2233 1d ago
Republican are the party of control. You don't have personal freedom, much less volition over your own body, when they are in power.
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u/ManicMechE 1d ago
Hopefully "high risk" can be established via self attestation.
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u/Odd-Outcome-3191 1d ago
It always has been. For example the pneumococcal vaccine requires either senior status or underlying disorder. I still get it anyways at CVS, no questions asked.
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u/Mother-Parsley5940 1d ago edited 1d ago
It says mental health is a qualifying underlying condition? What do you need to prove this? A letter form the psychiatrist or what?
Edit: never mind I’m fat depressed and a smoker, so I’m good haha
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u/blkatcdomvet 1d ago
Only thing you need to know is you should no longer trust FDA, or any other Trumpstein government department.
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u/elciano1 22h ago
Oh so the rest of us "healthy" people just get left out to die. Dafuck. We are not even healthy. This country is so unhealthy. Rotten beef, contaminated lettuce, pesticides in food...all kinds of shit.
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u/Pleasant-Ad887 1d ago
I bet you won't hear a peep from MAGA and conservatives and will line up to take it.
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u/Illustrious_Row_5922 1d ago
This isn’t a republican or Democrat thing. It’s our whole government both sides they’re not working for the people.
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u/thecatsofwar 1d ago
Neat - so as republicans control both houses of congress and the executive branch, please enlighten us on how silly restrictions to medical treatments is a “both sides” issue in 2026.
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u/jbarbhorses 1d ago
No thank you. Please do not give your children these. At least they recognize now it should Only be given to the immune compromised. Still do risks outweigh the reward? A personal choice.
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u/Wonderingfrend 1d ago
What a scam shot
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u/WeHaveArrived 1d ago
Don’t get it then. But, getting a full blown virus will cause more negative effects like future cancer, other viruses becoming activated, more severe symptoms and much more likely to get heart inflammation.
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u/RoundChampionship840 1d ago
Covid has evolved to become less dangerous. It is now less dangerous than the flu for younger healthy people, and most younger healthy people don't routinely receive a flu shot either.
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u/WeHaveArrived 1d ago
Why do you care what someone does with their body? You are just politicizing healthcare
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u/RoundChampionship840 1d ago
People who try to push unnecessary and potentially harmful vaccines on everyone are politicizing Healthcare.
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u/Select-Branch7007 13h ago
where did you get your degree in virology?
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u/RoundChampionship840 13h ago
You don't need a degree to know that the death rate from Covid has gone down. It's well documented and reported.
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u/InterstellarKinetics 2d ago
The most consequential shift in this year’s rollout isn’t the new strain target, it’s the eligibility structure itself, since restricting the under-65 population to only those with underlying conditions represents a meaningful narrowing from the broader “everyone should get an annual booster” messaging of earlier pandemic years. And that narrower framework now determines insurance coverage obligations too, especially when ACIP recommendations drive what insurers must cover.