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

Bay Staters looking for the newest COVID-19 vaccines ahead of the fall and winter respiratory illness season will be faced with some limits, as the Food and Drug Administration announced changes to who is eligible to receive them.

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 Massachusetts.

The new versions will not be available to every Bay Stater who wants one, according to the FDA approvals.

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The updated vaccines will be available to everyone 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.

Moderna's vaccines have been approved to be administered to children as young as 6 months old if they have an underlying condition, while the Pfizer vaccine is only available to children who are at least 5 years old and have an underlying condition.

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Those FDA limits differ from Massachusetts' COVID-19 vaccine recommendations, which say everyone 6 months and older should get a COVID-19 vaccine.

A supplemental spending bill filed Aug. 14 would give the Massachusetts Department of Public Health the "authority to decouple immunization recommendations and requirements" dictated by the federal government, according to a media release from Gov. Maura Healy's office.

Massachusett's recommendations match those of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which say those 6 months old or older should receive COVID-19 vaccinations.

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