With more scientists predicting COVID-19 boosters will be needed each year, some are now working on combining those with the annual flu vaccine.
Rogelio V. Solis/AP, FILEboosters will be needed each year, some are now working on combining those with the annual flu vaccine. The idea, experts say, is a single injection given each fall that protects against seasonal flu and COVID-19.
“I think we first have to assess the long-term need for annual COVID vaccines,” says Dr. Anna Durbin, director of Center for Immunization Research at Johns Hopkins University. While two of the three authorized COVID vaccines are based on mRNA technology, previous influenza vaccines have not utilized this technology. But now, Moderna and Pfizer are working on an mRNA flu vaccine.
This past September, Novavax enrolled people in a Phase 1/2 study to evaluate the safety, tolerability and immune response of a combination vaccine using Novavax' seasonal influenza and COVID-19 vaccines. Unlike Pfizer and Moderna's vaccines which use mRNA, these vaccines use protein subunit technology, which introduces a fragment of the virus into the body that is recognized by the immune system and triggers a response.
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