The U.S. approved updated COVID-19 vaccines Monday, hoping to rev up protection against the latest coronavirus strains and blunt any surge this fall and winter.

The Food and Drug Administration decision opens the newest shots from Moderna and Pfizer and its partner BioNTech to most Americans even if they’ve never had a coronavirus vaccination. It’s part of a shift to treat fall updates of the COVID-19 vaccine much like getting a yearly flu shot.

There’s still another step: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must sign off. A CDC advisory panel is set to issue recommendations Tuesday on who most needs the updated shots. Vaccinations could begin later this week, and both the COVID-19 and flu shot can be given at the same visit.

      • LazaroFilm@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Chills throat and headache. My wife was positive last Thursday and just lost sense of smell. Out 5yo is still in the clear so far.

        • kescusay@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          The smell and taste thing is so goddamn weird. Most of the people I know personally who’ve caught it lost one, the other, or both. Several of them are only now getting it back.

          And people wonder why I still mask up when going to stores and am champing at the bit for the new booster. I don’t want any of that crap.

      • LazaroFilm@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Well, it’s not a + so I’m not pregnant! Yay! That would have been hard to explain to my wife (I’m male)

        • notacuban@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Harder than you might think. A male testing positive on a pregnancy test is a marker for some forms of testicular cancer.

    • xpinchx@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Look into paxlovid if your symptoms get bad. It made my 2nd bout tolerable but I have asthma and shit lungs.

  • xpinchx@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Get your vaccines and boosters or whatever, COVID sucks I’m just now getting over my 2nd bout. Not fun.

    • Bibliotectress@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I heard it was really going around again, so I got my booster a few weeks ago right before school started back up (I work in a high school library). I wanted to wait for the booster with the new strain, but figured I was better off just getting it. I hope I made the right decision. 🙏 I really don’t want to get covid again. My energy levels afterwards were crap for weeks.

  • Silverseren@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Does the latter part mean it won’t be available to the broader public until October, since they will be focused on the elderly and such first?

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        What on earth are you talking about? Coronaviruses and influenza viruses are only related in that they’re both viruses. You’re essentially relating a zebra and a bumblebee because they both have stripes.

        • Nurgle@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          What? They’re clearly saying that Covid is as dangerous as the flu. They’re obviously wrong and also downplaying the importance of getting a flu shot, but they’re not talking about the genetic relationship of the two.

            • Nurgle@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Well it’s just that, it’s willful. It’s a lot easier to say it’s just another flu than to worry about the reality of the situation.

              • Sl00k@programming.dev
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                1 year ago

                Isn’t the situation essentially equivalent to the flu at this point in time?

                I’m choosing not to get any more boosters since my last one gave me severe side effects for 3 months, but would if absolutely necessary.

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        1 year ago

        My roommates both have health difficulties that would put them at high risk if they contracted Covid. So the least I can do is make sure I am vaccinated and masked to reduce the risk of me contracting it and infecting them.

        Because I’m not a terrible person that only thinks about myself.

      • wwaxwork@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Yes but you need flu shots so I’m not sure what point you are trying to make here.

  • just_change_it@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Just in time for the pharma companies to make $130/dose or whatever insane number they have decided to make up in the USA. It’s never been better to be an investor in businesses making vaccines.

    Billions in public grants for research and then we get to pay for the results for something that benefits the greater good, again. You’d think when you need x billion doses the price wouldn’t be 130 x billions, but instead $1.25 x billions.

  • mintyfrog@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    *Authorized for use, not all approved.

    The FDA has issued an Emergency Use Authorization for the updated Moderna and Pfizer formulas for 2023. The approvals are for other vaccines for new age groups.