New COVID-19 Vaccine Restrictions: What It Means For FL Residents

A new and updated version of the COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for the coming fall and winter respiratory illness season, the Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday, though they've revealed controversial and stringent conditions on who can access it in Florida.

The agency has limited the approval for the new vaccines only to adults 65 and older. For people between 5 and 64, they must have at least one underlying condition, like asthma or obesity, that puts them at risk for severe COVID. Critics and many health advocates say that this needlessly puts the health of patients at risk.

The new and improved vaccine by Pfizer-BioNTech will more closely match the new strains circulating across the country, targeting a JN.1 sub-lineage of the disease known as LP.8.1.

The FDA approved new versions of the COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and BioNTech and from Moderna, the companies announced. The newest versions are designed to target the LP.8.1 sublineage of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the most recent variant that has been spreading in Florida.

However, the new versions will not be available to every Florida resident who wants one, according to the FDA approvals.

The updated vaccines will only be available to people age 65 or older, the FDA said. Those 64 or younger can only receive the vaccines if they have at least one underlying condition that puts them at high risk for severe outcomes from COVID-19, the FDA said. Critics and many health advocates say that this needlessly puts the health of patients at risk.

The restrictions have sparked sharp pushback from groups like the American Association of Pediatrics, who have published their own vaccine guidelines that, for the first time ever, sharply diverge from the CDC.

According to the latest statistics from the CDC, the rate of the virus is firmly in the "growing" category, with a 92.65 percent probability of upward trajectory.

The overall percentage of emergency department visits due to COVID-19 does remain low, however, at 0.52 percent.

The CDC also estimates an "R" rate of 1.07, or between 0.96 and 1.12, a figure which estimates how many new infections are caused by each infected person. Any "R" over 1 indicates a growth in the virus.

An advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must next vote to recommend the vaccines. Since taking office, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has unseated members on the committee and added new members of the panel who are vaccine skeptics.

The new vaccine will begin shipping immediately and be available in pharmacies, hospitals and clinics across the U.S. in the coming days, officials said.