Travel Vaccine Breaking News

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today published a COCA Now email alert confirming that in most of the continental United States, the ABRYSVO™ respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine should be given to pregnant women from September through January 31, regardless of year-to-year circulation, when infants would be born during increased RSV activity,

As of late January 2024, numerous indicators show RSV infection decreasing in the U.S. 

Jurisdictions that have different RSV seasonality from most of the continental United States, such as Alaska, southern Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, may consider RSV vaccination of pregnant women after January 31.

The CDC and its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommend the RSV vaccination during 32–36 weeks gestation.

The CDC recently reported among women who were pregnant and ≥32 weeks gestation since September 22, 2023, the overall coverage with the RSV vaccine was 14.4% as of January 13, 2024.

Infants born to unvaccinated mothers should receive Beyfortus™ (nirsevimab). This single-dose, long-acting monoclonal antibody provides immediate, passive immunity protection to the infant against RSV-associated lower respiratory tract disease.

As of 2024, Beyfortus availability has increased in the U.S.

COCA Now emails will be sent as soon as possible after the CDC publishes new content, ensuring clinicians are updated.

According to a Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity COCA Now message published today, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was notified of 23 measles cases between December 2023 and January 23, 2024.

On January 24, 2024, this COCA Now email stated these cases include seven direct importations of measles by international travelers and two outbreaks with more than five cases each. 

Specifically, most of the recent measles cases were among children and adolescents who had not received a measles-containing vaccine, even if they were age-eligible.

The increased number of measles importations in the U.S. reflects a rise in global measles outbreaks. 

Over the past year, the CDC says Yemen (23,066) and India (13,997) have reported the most measles cases.

In the U.S., the Philadelphia Department of Public Health recently reported a measles cluster among unvaccinated residents. Nine measles cases have been confirmed in Philadelphia locations in 2024.

The Georgia Department of Public Health confirmed a measles case in an unvaccinated Atlanta resident.

The Virginia Department of Health was notified of a confirmed case of measles in a person who traveled through Northern Virginia airports.

In greater Kansas City, Missouri, a resident at the Kansas City International Airport and North Kansas City Hospital was infected with the measles virus.

And in Washington, six measles cases were confirmed in January 2024.

In the U.S., various measles vaccines, such as GSK's Priorix, are generally available at local pharmacies.

COCA Now emails will be sent as soon as possible after the CDC publishes new content, ensuring clinicians are updated.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVIDVaxView data, about 11% (CI 10.1 to 11.8) of children under the age of 18 are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations.

From a state perspective, as of January 23, 2024, Massachusetts has reached about a third of children with COVID-19 vaccinations.

Furthermore, Louisana was the lowest-ranked state, with only 3.1% (CI 1.2 to 5.0) of children up to date.

The CDC says up to date with the updated 2023-24 COVID-19 vaccine is defined as receipt of at least one vaccination since September 14, 2023, for children ≥5 years; for children <5 years, up-to-date status was defined based on the current recommendations that also take into account number of doses and brand of vaccine.

Up-to-date status was determined by survey questions on the month and year of the most recent COVID vaccine, and for children <5 years, the total number of COVID vaccinations received and brand of the most recent COVID vaccine.

Each week, estimates for prior weeks are recalculated by the CDC using the additional interviews conducted that week.

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) today announced Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd (SII) has joined CEPI's network of vaccine producers in the Global South to support more rapid, agile, and equitable responses to future public health disease outbreaks.

To prepare for such a scenario, CEPI is investing up to $30 million to build upon SII's proven track record of rapid response to infectious disease outbreaks, expanding the company's ability to swiftly supply investigational vaccines in the face of epidemic and pandemic threats.

Created by CEPI to expand the global footprint of vaccine production, the manufacturing network focuses on vaccine makers in the Global South near areas at high risk of outbreaks caused by deadly viral threats like Lassa Fever, Nipah, Disease X, and other pathogens with epidemic or pandemic potential prioritized by CEPI.

Dr. Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, said in a press release on January 23, 2024, "As part of CEPI's global manufacturing network, SII's world-renowned manufacturing and rapid response capabilities are poised to play a critical role in enabling swift and equitable access to affordable outbreak vaccines for the Global South."

Given SII's already proven production capabilities, the company may be called upon to promptly supply investigational vaccines for preclinical and clinical testing and large-scale supply in the event of an outbreak.

Shortening the time taken to manufacture and validate the first batches of experimental vaccines will be vital to enabling a response to an escalating outbreak within just 100 days – a goal created by CEPI and embraced by the G7, G20, and industry leaders – and could help stop a future pandemic in its tracks.

HDT Bio Corp. today announced that it has partnered with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), under Project NextGen's Enabler's program. 

Through this BARDA partnership, HDT Bio has received a $749,000 contract, supporting proof-of-concept studies for on-demand manufacturing and release processes that use HDT Bio's LION™ formulation for RNA vaccine production.

These studies will provide proof-of-concept data on the LION platform in support of on-demand manufacturing and release processes that enable rapid production of 1000 repRNA vaccine doses in seven days.

LION is a proprietary nanoemulsion tailored for RNA-based vaccines and therapeutics production designed to enable facile formulation and faster manufacturing compared to the characteristics of standard lipid nanoparticles used in existing vaccine products. 

"We look forward to contributing to the broader access to treatment and prevention strategies of future infectious diseases," commented Steven Reed, Ph.D., Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of HDT Bio, in a press release on January 23, 204.

With an initial investment of $5 billion, Project NextGen intends to accelerate and streamline the development of the next generation of vaccines and treatments through public-private collaborations.

The Project NextGen Enabler's program aims to advance next-generation vaccine and therapeutics technologies, including the development of innovative cGMP manufacturing of vaccines that decrease costs, speed production, increase efficacy, and improve access.

Previous BARDA - Project NextGen awards include, but are not limited to, $8.5 million to CastleVax for a vector-based intranasal vaccine candidate, $10 million to Gritstone Bio for a self-amplifying mRNA vaccine candidate, and $9.27 million to Vaxart's evaluation of its oral pill XBB COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

Project NextGen is separated from the Disease X initiative.

Since the approval of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccines and an enhanced monoclonal antibody in 2023, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have received reports of RSV vaccines being administered in error to young children and pregnant women.

A Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity COCA Now email issued today says the number of reports received by the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) as of January 17, 2024, suggests that these types of errors are uncommon in young children less than two years of age (25 reports) and pregnant women (128 reports).

The CDC stated this is a relatively small amount of errors compared to the estimated one million infants protected from RSV either through infant receipt of Beyfortus™ (nirsevimab) or by pregnant women being vaccinated.

According to the CDC, most of these administration error reports described no adverse event. When an adverse event was concurrently reported to VAERS, most reports were classified as nonserious.

The CDC, FDA, and other federal agencies said they continue to monitor the safety of RSV vaccines and reports of vaccine administration errors and will share information with the public as it becomes available.

On January 22, 2024, the CDC published Recommendations for Healthcare Providers who Have Administered Incorrect RSV Vaccine Products to Their Patients.