What we know about the next round of Covid vaccines

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Good afternoon! It's almost that time of year again.

A new round of Covid shots is likely to reach Americans in the coming months. Here's what we know so far about the newest vaccines.

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday recommended vaccine makers develop monovalent Covid shots targeting a highly contagious strain of the virus called JN.1 for use in the US starting this fall.

The Omicron JN.1 variant first emerged in the US last summer and became the dominant strain in circulation in January. But the strain only accounted for about 3% of all new cases in the United States as of Saturday, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Since then, several derivatives of JN.1.11.1, a direct descendant of JN.1, have taken over as the main strains circulating in the US. That includes KP.3, KP.2 and KP.1.1, which are also known as FLiRT variants. .

KP.3 accounted for a quarter of all new cases in the US as of June 8, while KP.2 accounted for 22.5% of cases, CDC data shows.

Federal health officials have long told Americans to expect annual updates on Covid shots as the virus produces new strains that can bypass the immunity people have from vaccines or previous infections, protection that also wanes with time. It's similar to how the United States rolls out new flu vaccines every year.

This is what the three Covid vaccine manufacturers have said so far.

• Pfizer has asked the FDA for approval of an updated messenger RNA Covid vaccine targeting JN.1, with the goal of making the vaccine available for the fall season pending a recommendation from the CDC, a spokesperson said.
• modern has applied for FDA approval for its own updated mRNA shot targeting JN.1, according to a statement. The company said manufacturing is underway and doses of the new vaccine will be ready to ship to the United States starting in August.
• Novavax expects to be ready to deliver a protein-based Covid vaccine targeting JN.1 in the US in September, pending authorization from the FDA and CDC, the company said in a statement.

Each of the companies presented data last week showing that a JN.1 Covid vaccine should produce higher levels of protective antibodies against circulating variants of the virus compared to their shots currently approved on the market targeting another omicron variant called XBB. .1.5. That strain is no longer in circulation.

Once the FDA approves their respective vaccines, the shots will need recommendations from a CDC advisory panel and the agency itself before they can be distributed to Americans. The CDC advisory committee is scheduled to meet at the end of the month to vote on who should receive the new round of vaccines this fall.

The bigger question is: How many people will actually roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated later this year?

Only about 22.5% of American adults received the latest round of vaccines that were rolled out last fall, according to CDC data through early May.

Many Americans who received earlier rounds of Covid shots are tired of getting vaccinated every year. Others feel they no longer need the protection of a booster dose because the threat of the virus has diminished in the US.

Covid cases in the US have plummeted from their earlier peak in the pandemic, but appear to be rising. The weekly U.S. testing positivity rate was 4.5% as of June 1, up from 4.1% the week before and 3.4% the week before, according to data from the CDC.

We will continue to watch the new round of Covid vaccines as we approach the fall.

Feel free to send any tips, suggestions, story ideas, and facts to Annika at [email protected].

The White House announced on Monday microsoft and Google have agreed to provide free and low-cost cybersecurity resources to rural hospitals across the United States as the healthcare sector works to defend against a growing number of attackers.

Cyberattacks against the healthcare system increased 128% between 2022 and 2023, according to a statement, and the number of major security breaches in the sector soared to a record last year. The attacks have shown no signs of stopping, as major healthcare systems and companies have been plagued by breaches in recent months.

For example, UnitedHealth Group subsidiary Change Healthcare suffered a debilitating cyberattack in February that left thousands of doctors unable to fill prescriptions, verify benefits or receive payments for their services. The White House said the breach was “one of the most significant healthcare-related cyberattacks to date.”

Maintaining cybersecurity infrastructure is complex and expensive, and breaches often require “manual, staff-intensive solutions” that can be particularly difficult for small rural hospitals, the White House said. As a result, the Biden administration has asked tech companies such as Microsoft and Google to offer additional support.

Microsoft said it will provide rural emergency hospitals and critical access hospitals with up to 75% discounts on its security products designed for smaller organizations, according to a statement. The company will offer its “most advanced” security suite to some larger rural hospitals for free for a year, and participating rural hospitals can also receive free Windows 10 security updates.

Rural hospitals can access free cybersecurity assessments and training through Microsoft and its partners to help identify risks and gaps within systems, the company said.

Google said it will provide “endpoint security consulting” to rural hospitals and nonprofits for free, meaning the company will help organizations make devices like their laptops and desktops harder to attack. .

Taylor Lehmann, director of the Google Cloud CISO Office, said Google is also helping organizations set up platforms like Google Workspace and systems like Chrome and ChromeOS that have built-in security features. The company offers financing to help organizations make the switch, Lehmann added.

“The belief that this problem will simply go away, or that the bad guys simply have bigger goals [is] “It's not right,” he told CNBC in an interview. “Hope is not a strategy, especially when the market for attackers is so indiscriminate.”

Lehmann said Google is also hosting a pilot program with a handful of rural hospitals to develop a free or low-cost suite of tools that it can offer to similar organizations on a larger scale in the future.

“It's pretty encouraging to see this activity. I think it's been a long time coming and I think there's still more to do here,” he said. “I would say it's kind of trending in the right direction, as far as bringing attention to some of these really critical issues that we're seeing.”

Read the full White House statement here.

Please feel free to send any tips, suggestions, story ideas, or information to Ashley at [email protected].