The FDA is recommending that makers of the COVID jab update formulas to combat the new strain

A new strain of COVID has prompted recommendations for vaccine companies to update their formulas in anticipation of cases in the fall.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Thursday that COVID vaccine makers should focus on the KP.2 strain of the JN.1 variant.

This update came after we first advised targeting the JN.1 variant.

“Based on the totality of the evidence, on June 6, 2024, the FDA initially advised licensed and licensed COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers that the COVID-19 vaccines (formula 2024-2025) for use in United States from fall 2024 should be monovalent vaccines JN.1, the FDA pointed out.

This announcement came after a committee meeting in which the panel expressed a preference for JN.1, as opposed to Dr. Peter Marks of the FDA, who preferred to focus on a newer strain, such as KP.2.

“We're paying an incredibly high premium for mRNA vaccines so we can have the freshest vaccines,” said Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER).

“The FDA has continued to monitor circulating strains of SARS-CoV-2. Based on the most current available data, along with the recent increase in cases of COVID-19 in areas of the country, the agency has further determined that the preferred JN.1 lineage for the COVID-19 vaccines (formulation 2024-2025) is the KP.2 strain, if feasible,” the agency updated.

“This change is intended to ensure that the COVID-19 vaccines (2024-2025 formulation) more closely match the circulating SARS-CoV-2 strains,” the FDA noted, adding that vaccine manufacturers were notified of the change .

“JN.1 is out of circulation in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of Saturday, KP.2 accounts for 22.5% of new Covid cases in the US KP.3, a sister variant, accounts for 25% of new cases,” NBC News reported.

Pfizer and Moderna's vaccines are mRNA-based, while a third company, Novavax, uses protein-based vaccines.

Novavax he said Fox News Digital that they “just submitted” an application for a JN.1 COVID vaccine.

“Novavax's updated JN.1 COVID-19 vaccine is active against current circulating strains, including KP.2 and KP.3,” a company press release said. “The submission is in line with US FDA, European Medicines Agency (EMA) and World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines to target the JN.1 lineage this fall.”

“It makes sense to target the KP.2 strain because it's becoming the predominant strain — it's increasing in California and it's going to spread across the country,” Fox News Medical Contributor Marc Siegel told Fox News Digital.

Siegel, a clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, warned that the KP.2 strain is “highly immunoevasive.”

“On the other hand, the vaccine will trigger the production of immune cells and antibodies that will continue to protect you against previous variants and subvariants,” he added.

Senior Staff Writer
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida, where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.

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