Symptoms of Lyme can include headaches, fatigue and joint pain, making a diagnosis difficult. While not common in Georgia, the disease can make people very sick. A new vaccine hopes to prevent it.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky has signed off on updated versions of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines that target the original virus and the omicron subvariants.
The new shots from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech target both the original strain of the coronavirus and the omicron BA.4/BA.5 subvariants that most people are catching now.
A committee of experts voted unanimously to recommend that the Food and Drug Administration authorize COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech for children as young as 6-months-old.
The company says this version targets both the original coronavirus and the beta variant, and appears to provide broader and longer-lasting protection against different strains, including omicron.
Omicron has many more mutations than previous variants of concern, a fact that raises questions about how effective existing vaccines will be against the new form of the coronavirus.
Moderna says the FDA is looking into reports of a rare side effect — myocarditis, or the inflammation of the heart muscle — in those who've gotten the shot.
The U.S. has pledged to deliver 1.1 billion doses of COVID vaccines to countries in need. Billions more are needed. NPR interviewed the State Department's global vaccine coordinator to learn more.
