The CDC Just Updated COVID-19 Guidance for 2024-2025—What to Know
The CDC just released updated guidelines about the COVID-19 vaccine.
New COVID-19 vaccines should roll out in the fall.
Everyone aged 6 months and up is encouraged to get the updated shot.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has new recommendations for the COVID-19 vaccine. The government agency announced late last week that it is endorsing the new 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine to protect against the virus.
The news comes as the U.S. appears to be in a summer COVID wave sparked by the FLiRT variants, KP.2, KP.3, and KP.1.1. Right now, CDC data show that ER visits due to COVID-19 are up a whopping 23% over the previous week, and deaths are up more than 14% from the week before. Unfortunately, cases are expected to surge again in the fall and winter, too.
In 2023, more than 916,300 people were hospitalized due to COVID-19 and more than 75,500 people died from the virus, according to the CDC. “People need to realize that the vaccine is the best way to protect yourself from this potentially lethal disease,” says Thomas Russo, M.D., professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York.
Meet the experts: William Schaffner, M.D., an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine; Thomas Russo, M.D., professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York
CDC officials are also pushing for people to consider getting a flu vaccine at the same time. “Our top recommendation for protecting yourself and your loved ones from respiratory illness is to get vaccinated,” CDC director Mandy Cohen, M.D., M.P.H., said in a statement. “Make a plan now for you and your family to get both updated flu and COVID vaccines this fall, ahead of the respiratory virus season.”
So, what are the new recommendations and what’s in the COVID-19 vaccine this year? Here’s the deal.
What are the CDC’s new COVID-19 vaccine recommendations?
This year’s COVID-19 vaccine recommendations are pretty straightforward.
The CDC recommends that everyone aged 6 months and older get an updated 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine, whether or not they’ve received the vaccine in the past.
Updated COVID-19 vaccines will be rolled out from Moderna, Novavax, and Pfizer, and the CDC says that the recommendations will go into effect as soon as the vaccines are available.
What’s in the new COVID-19 vaccine for 2024-2025?
The formulation for the COVID-19 vaccines is the same as in the past. However, most of the vaccines will be tweaked to target the KP.2 lineage of the virus, which is heavily circulating now.
That’s a change from early June, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) originally recommended that vaccine makers target the JN.1 COVID-19 variant. JN.1 and its offshoots now cause just a small percentage of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., but KP.2 makes up nearly 21% of cases. (Its sister FLiRT variant KP.3 causes more than 33% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. right now.) However, the vaccine made by Novavax will target JN.1, given that it takes more time to make than the other.
When will the new COVID-19 vaccine be available?
There’s no official date right now for when the updated COVID-19 vaccine will be rolled out, but it will likely be released in the fall.
Should I get the new COVID-19 vaccine?
While many Americans didn’t get the last updated vaccine, doctors stress the importance of getting vaccinated this time around.
“The CDC’s advisory committee looked over the data very carefully and noted that there were still many very serious illnesses that sent people—including children—to the hospital,” says William Schaffner, M.D., an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “They made a careful assessment and found that getting the vaccine is much better than not getting the vaccine.”
The recommendations are similar to what they’ve been in the past, points out Dr. Russo. “The recommendation will help those individuals at greatest risk,” he says. “But even if you’re younger and healthier, your risk of getting seriously ill or even dying from COVID-19 is never zero.”
Kids have historically been an under-vaccinated group, but Dr. Russo stresses that children “are not bullet-proof” and urges parents to vaccinate young children against COVID-19, too. Doing this “will also indirectly protect vulnerable individuals they interact with, like grandparents,” he says.
While having had COVID-19 recently may help offer some protection, Dr. Russo notes that “almost everyone that has died from COVID in this past respiratory season was under-vaccinated.”
“People need to realize that immunity fades over time,” Dr. Russo says. “The virus has also evolved and the variants that are circulating now are more immune-evasive, making it important to be up to date on vaccinations.”
Dr. Russo is hopeful that more people will get the COVID-19 vaccine this year compared to the last updated vaccine. “Fingers crossed we do better,” he says.
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