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Led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, a recent study showed no significant difference in the strength of the immune response (IgG antibodies) between most of those who received their vaccine injections in small doses between layers of the skin.

In some cases, the IgG antibodies were detected more than six months after the second and final JYNNEOS® vaccination.

Because of limited space between skin layers, intradermal injections can only accommodate small doses, while larger doses generally require subcutaneous injections.

The smaller doses, about one-fifth of the usual full dose and spread out by as long as three months, were authorized by the U.S. FDA and CDC in August 2022.

About 155,000 New Yorkers have been vaccinated, mainly using smaller doses.

"Our study shows that smaller vaccine doses of mpox vaccine administered in two doses spread out over weeks to months were similar to the full (subcutaneous) FDA-approved dose," said study co-lead investigator and infectious disease specialist Angelica Cifuentes Kottkamp, MD, in a press release on December 14, 2023,

"Implementing the smaller dose was a good emergency measure in the face of immediate shortages of the vaccine," said Dr. Kottkamp, an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at NYU Langone Health.

Additionally, the New England Journal of Medicine published a Correspondence that revealed people fully vaccinated with two smaller JYNNEOS doses had an immune response four times stronger than those who did not complete the vaccination series and had only one dose.

This study's finding is significant since The Lancet Infectious Diseases reported on December 7, 2023, that 12% of JYNNEOS vaccinated individuals were non-antibody responders.

Bavarian Nordic codeveloped JYNNEOS with the U.S. Government to ensure adult populations, including people with weakened immune systems, could be protected from smallpox.

On February 22, 2023, the U.S. CDC issued Interim Clinical Considerations confirming that mpox vaccination should continue to be offered to people with the highest potential for exposure to mpox. The U.K. and Europe have issued similar notices in 2023.

The U.S. government today announced that Sanofi and AstraZeneca will make available 230,000 additional doses of a new passive immunization that prevents lower respiratory tract infections in infants caused by the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

Announcement on December 14, 2023, the additional doses of Beyfortus™ (Nirsevimab-alip) are scheduled for delivery in January 2024.

Beyfortus, an extended half-life monoclonal antibody, was approved by the U.S. FDA in July 2023.

This new allocation is in addition to the 77,000 Beyfortus doses released to the U.S. in November 2023.

Sanofi had previously confirmed that demand for this product, especially for the 100 mg doses, had been higher than anticipated.

In clinical trials, a single injection reduced the chances of severe RSV infection by 74.5%.

RSV disease can be prevented either by giving antibody products to infants and young children or by giving their mothers RSV vaccine during pregnancy, says the U.S. CDC.

According to a Johns Hopkins news article published in July 2023, monoclonal antibodies work by providing immediate and short-term protection, whereas vaccines “boost your immunity in the future.

David Dowdy, MD, professor in Epidemiology, explained that your immune system can’t “learn” anything from an antibody. The drug is “basically to protect during a time of life when people are most vulnerable.”

The protection that Beyfortus provides is called “passive immunity” because it does not come from the person’s immune system.

Before 2023, there were no immunizing tools to protect older adults from illness and death due to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). This year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved two RSV vaccines for older adults.

According to an Original Article published today by the New England Journal of Medicine, an mRNA-based vaccine was found to be very effective at protecting healthy adults. 

In this ModernaTX, Inc. sponsored ongoing, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2/3 clinical trial, participants were randomly assigned, in a 1:1 ratio, adults 60 years of age or older to receive one dose of mRNA-1345 (50 μg) or placebo.

The two primary efficacy endpoints were preventing RSV-associated lower respiratory tract disease with at least two signs or symptoms and at least three signs or symptoms. A key secondary efficacy endpoint was the prevention of RSV-associated acute respiratory disease. Safety was also assessed.

Overall, 17,793 participants were assigned to receive the mRNA-1345 vaccine candidate. The median follow-up was 112 days (range, 1 to 379).

The primary analyses were conducted when at least 50% of the anticipated cases of RSV-associated lower respiratory tract disease had occurred.

Vaccine efficacy was 83.7% (95.88% confidence interval [CI], 66.0 to 92.2) against RSV-associated lower respiratory tract disease with at least two signs or symptoms and 82.4% (96.36% CI, 34.8 to 95.3) against the disease with at least three signs or symptoms. Vaccine efficacy was 68.4% (95% CI, 50.9 to 79.7) against RSV-associated acute respiratory disease.

Protection was observed against both RSV subtypes (A and B) and was generally consistent across subgroups defined according to age and coexisting conditions.

Participants in the mRNA-1345 group had a higher incidence than those in the placebo group of solicited local adverse reactions (58.7% vs. 16.2%) and systemic adverse reactions (47.7% vs. 32.9%). Most of these reactions were mild to moderate in severity and were transient.

However. serious adverse events occurred in 2.8% of the participants in each trial group.

In summary, these researchers wrote, 'This phase 2–3 efficacy trial showed that a single 50-μg dose of the mRNA-1345 vaccine in adults 60 or older was efficacious against a spectrum of RSV-confirmed respiratory disease.'