Stephen Feller

Hollywood

Online Manage Editor at Healio

Online Managing Editor for infectious diseases at @GoHealio and @InfectDisNews. Former @UPI. Opinions are my own. #GoGators #HeatLifer

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Articles

Closed CDC lab was cornerstone of national, global STI science

3 days ago | healio.com | Gerard Gallagher |Stephen Feller |Caitlyn Stulpin

Read more Key takeaways: The Trump administration closed a CDC lab that tracked STIs, including drug-resistant gonorrhea. Experts painted a grim picture of STI surveillance in the wake of the lab’s closing. In early 2023, health officials in Massachusetts and at the CDC announced the detection of the first two cases of gonorrhea in the United States that were resistant or showed reduced susceptibility to five different classes of antibiotics.
FDA approves Moderna’s lower-dose COVID-19 vaccine for some

5 days ago | healio.com | Stephen Feller

Read moreKey takeaways:The new low-dose vaccine is one-fifth the size of Moderna’s original COVID-19 shot. The vaccine is expected to be available this fall. The FDA approved Moderna’s lower-dose COVID-19 vaccine, but only for individuals aged 65 years or older and people aged 12 to 64 years at high risk for severe disease, aligning with the agency’s new restrictions for COVID-19 shots.
Kennedy: CDC will stop recommending COVID shots for healthy children, pregnant women

1 week ago | healio.com | Stephen Feller |Sara Kellner

Key takeaways:HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the CDC will no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women. The announcement comes amid a flurry of new federal directives for the shots. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday announced that the CDC will no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children and healthy pregnant women.
FDA committee recommends formula for fall COVID-19 vaccines

2 weeks ago | healio.com | Stephen Feller

Key takeaways: This fall’s COVID vaccines should be aimed at JN.1 and its sublineages, the VRBPAC said. Although JN.1 is not circulating in the United States right now, the dominant strain, LP.8.1, is descended from it. An FDA committee on Thursday recommended that COVID-19 vaccines for the 2025-2026 respiratory virus season — which, for the first time, will be limited to certain groups — target the JN.1 lineage of SARS-CoV-2.
FDA will restrict future COVID-19 vaccines based on age, risk factors

2 weeks ago | healio.com | Gerard Gallagher |Caitlyn Stulpin |Stephen Feller

FDA officials outlined new restrictions for COVID-19 vaccine approvals in the United States that could limit their use among healthy people. The policy shift was announced Tuesday in a New England Journal of Medicine article written by FDA Commissioner Martin Makary, MD, MPH, and Vinay Prasad, MD, MPH, who leads the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research and is the agency’s top vaccine regulator.
FDA approves Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine - with restrictions

2 weeks ago | healio.com | Stephen Feller

The FDA’s approval of Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine — the only non-mRNA COVID-19 vaccine now authorized for use in the U.S. — is a critical development in the ongoing fight against COVID-19. Its protein-based platform offers an important alternative for individuals who are medically ineligible for or hesitant about mRNA vaccines.
FDA advisors will meet to discuss COVID-19 vaccine makeup

3 weeks ago | healio.com | Stephen Feller

Key takeaways:An FDA committee will meet May 22 to discuss formulas for the 2025-2026 COVID-19 vaccines. WHO recommended maintaining the 2024-2025 vaccine makeup based on currently circulating viral variants. An FDA advisory committee is scheduled to meet to discuss the formula for the next COVID-19 vaccines after being sidelined during recent discussions about the makeup of next season’s influenza vaccines.
US stops recommending chikungunya vaccine for people 60 and older

3 weeks ago | healio.com | Stephen Feller

This pause parallels another live arboviral vaccine, yellow fever, where there is a precaution for people aged 60 years or older. No other live-attenuated vaccines are currently in routine use in this age cohort in the United States. Immunosenescence affects older persons’ ability to adequately control replication of all live attenuated vaccine viruses.
Trump signs executive order meant to bring down drug prices

3 weeks ago | healio.com | Stephen Feller

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Combination vaccine for COVID-19, flu shows promise in trial

4 weeks ago | healio.com | Stephen Feller

Key takeaways:Moderna has developed a messenger RNA vaccine that protects against SARS-CoV-2 and seasonal influenza. The ongoing phase 3 trial is expected to conclude later this year. A combination messenger RNA vaccine against COVID-19 and seasonal influenza stacked up well against currently recommended vaccines in a phase 3 trial, according to findings published in JAMA. The vaccine, mRNA-1083, “met all pre-specified primary immunogenicity objectives in adults 50 years and older,” Amanda K.