In this article, we review the characteristics of the FLiRT variants, including their genetic mutations, epidemiological features, potential impact on public health measures, and implications for vaccine efficacy. We also discuss strategies for surveillance, prevention, and mitigation efforts to control ...
Will vaccines work against FLiRT variants? The CDC has not made any changes to its current vaccine recommendations, which were last updated in April. But the emergence of these new JN.1 variant descendants like KP.2 might affect what vaccine the FDA picks out for this coming fall and winter...
“It’s this confluence of a much more infectious variant on top of folks’ overall immunity having waned — either from natural or vaccine-induced immunity,” Hudson said. “It’s just kind of come [as] a perfect storm.” Advertisement This summer’s wave is shap...
Next month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's vaccines advisory committee will meet to discuss recommendations for the variant mix for this winter's Covid-19 vaccine, havingpostponedan earlier discussion to collect more data.
Variants KP.2 and KP.3, referred to as FLiRT variants because of specific mutations on their spike proteins, now account for more than 47% of new cases.1 “These variants are descendants of the JN.1 variant, so we expect a vaccine targeted at JN.1 to offer protection against the FLiRT...
The latest COVID vaccine is an updated booster that targets the Omicron variants that have been circulating all summer (part of the FLiRT family). The new vaccines were tweaked using the KP.2 strain to provide better coverage for the current variants dominating, Dr. Sellick says, so it's ...
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are mRNA-based and earmarked for the Omicron KP.2 strain. The protein-based Novavax vaccine targets its parental lineage, JN.1. While they weren’t engineered to combat XEC per se, they were manufactured with the family of recently circulating variants in mind...
He said the one common factor among all the patients hospitalized at UCSF with severe COVID is that none of them received the updated COVID vaccine that rolled out in fall 2023. "If you haven't done, go ahead and get it," Chin-Hong said. ...
In an estimation released on Friday, June 7th, the new KP.3 variant "climbed to 1 in 4 new COVID-19 cases nationwide." During a two-week timeline from May 26th to June 8th, KP.3 accounted for 25% of all new COVID cases, while KP.2, as known as the "FLiRT" strain, accounted...
fourth dose of either the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna coronavirus vaccine can bring an increase in antibodies – more than what’s been seen after a third dose – but it still might not be enough to protect against breakthrough infections caused by the Omicron variant, Jacqueline Howard reports....