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Pharmaceutical professors in the North East say October and November are the best months to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Pictured here is the SARS-CoV-2 XBB 1.5 variant. Kraken. coronavirus. 3D rendering
Northeastern University School of Pharmacy professors say the latest coronavirus vaccines available in the fall or winter of 2024 are well matched to the dominant strain of SARS-CoV-2 currently in circulation.
Moderna and Pfizer’s mRNA vaccines are based on the KP.2 strain that was prevalent in early spring, so they are not 100% identical, said Mansour Amizi, a distinguished professor of pharmaceutical sciences and chemical engineering at the university.
The current dominant strain is KP.3.1.1, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says accounts for 57% of coronavirus cases in the United States as of October 26.
“My understanding of these variants is that the KP strains are very similar to each other,” said Amizi, who says they are descendants of the Omicron family.
A newly emerged variant called XEC, also a member of the Omicron family, is rapidly emerging in the COVID-19 scene, increasing from 5% to 17% of total U.S. cases as of the end of September. Therefore, it is like a wild card. 1 month later.
“It is unclear whether XEC will become mainstream,” Amizi says. “This is a very new variant, and we don’t know much about how it differs from KP strain.”
“XEC appears to have some mutations in the spike protein that make it a little bit more transmissible, so it will probably eventually surpass KP3.1.1,” said Brandon, a clinical professor of pharmacy and health systems science. Dionne says.
From left to right: Professor Mansour Amizi and Professor Brandon Dionne say the latest coronavirus vaccines, while not perfect, are well matched to the emerging XEC variant. Photo by Matthew Moduno/Northeastern University
Hospitalizations slightly increased
In other countries where XEC is well-established, hospitalizations are up slightly, but not as much as when the Delta variant was prevalent, Dionne said.
Scientists believe that XEC is a recombinant variant, meaning it “takes fragments from other strains that are already in circulation to form new strains,” Amizi said.
“This is not a completely new strain,” he says. “XEC is essentially a mixture of (previous mutations). It is based on an existing strain with a different composition, similar to the earlier deltachron mutant strain, which had both delta and omicron mutations. .”
“In some ways, this is not something we haven’t seen before,” Amizi said. “This is another reason why there is less alarm around XEC.”
If XEC becomes the dominant strain, Dionne said, “it could reduce the effectiveness” of the latest coronavirus vaccines. But he says, “It should still be a pretty good match.”
What are the latest symptoms of coronavirus?
Symptoms of COVID-19 in healthy people include sore throat, fever, chills, fever, fatigue that lasts several days, and cough that lasts three to five days, Amizi said.
“There aren’t as many examples of people losing their sense of smell or taste as there used to be,” he says.
The CDC recommends that everyone 6 months of age and older receive an up-to-date COVID-19 vaccine to prevent the risk of severe illness, hospitalization, and death.
Amizi said fall is the best time to get vaccinated to protect against seasonal gatherings and the increased risk of virus infection during the colder months.
He said it takes two to three days after vaccination for mRNA vaccines to really kick in and start producing antibodies.
As of Oct. 23, the federal health agency also recommended that people 65 and older or those with weakened immune systems receive a second dose six months later to prevent severe disease. did.
Antibodies shorten the duration of symptoms
Dionne said the aim is to ensure there are enough circulating antibodies to shorten the duration of symptoms, especially in older people and people who are more susceptible to severe illness, adding that immunity from coronavirus vaccines will wane over time. added.
In addition to mRNA vaccines, Novavax also offers a protein-based coronavirus vaccine based on the JN.1 variant, the parent strain from which KP.2 and other variants currently in circulation are derived. .
According to Amiji, it takes two to three days after vaccination for mRNA vaccines to fully kick in and start producing antibodies. The most effective protection from the mRNA and Novavax COVID-19 vaccinations is achieved after one to two weeks, Dionne said.
Amizi said people can be divided into separate units to receive the coronavirus vaccine and influenza vaccine at the same time.
Wearing a mask, especially in crowded public places, also helps prevent the transmission of viral infections such as the coronavirus and influenza, he said.
But he says vaccination is the first line of defense.
“Remember that if you are in an environment where you are exposed to high concentrations of the virus, you can still become infected even if you are protected,” Amizi says.
But “we’ve seen time and time again that people who get vaccinated have milder infections,” he says.
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