WASHINGTON– U.S. regulators on Tuesday approved another booster dose of Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for older Americans and people with weak immune systems.

The Food and Drug Administration has also taken steps to make coronavirus shots easier for everyone, saying that anyone who gets a dose of Pfizer or Moderna — whether it’s a booster or their first ever vaccination — will get the latest formula, and non-original vaccines.

The FDA said those 65 and older can roll up their sleeves again for another booster dose if at least four months have passed since their first dose of a so-called bivalent vaccine that targets omicron strains.

Most immunocompromised people can also opt for this additional spring booster dose at least two months after the first, with additional doses down the road at the discretion of their physician, the agency said.

If the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approves, these spring boosters could start within a few days. CDC advisors are set to meet on Wednesday.

“COVID-19 remains a very real risk for many people,” said FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks said.

It’s still too early to know if younger, healthier people will end up being offered another shot, but an extra dose for the most vulnerable is one of several steps the FDA is taking to make COVID-19 vaccines easier in the future.

Here’s what you need to know:

ONE FORMULA FOR PFIZER AND MODERNA SHOTS

COVID-19 vaccines have saved millions of lives, but protection wanes over time and as new, more infectious options become available, so last fall Pfizer and Moderna released updated “bivalent” boosters that added protection against the omicron strains then circulating compared to with parent vaccines. vaccine prescription. On Tuesday, the FDA said the updated formula would be used for anyone receiving the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. For unvaccinated adults, this means that one combination shot will replace the need to get multiple doses of the original vaccine first.

WHO NEED A BOOSTER?

Anyone who has received their original immunizations but has not yet received the updated booster vaccine can still receive it. Only 42% of Americans aged 65 and over — and just 20% of all adults — have received one of these upgraded boosters since September. “These people could certainly go and get a bivalent booster now to improve their defenses,” Marks said.

SOME PEOPLE ARE AT INCREASED RISK

For many Americans, COVID-19 has become less of a health concern and more of an inconvenience, with mask-wearing, routine testing and other precautions largely taken a back seat. But at least 250 people in the US still die from COVID-19 a day, and high-risk Americans who last received a dose in the fall were anxiously wondering when they could get another.

Giving older and immunocompromised people an extra dose of a booster dose puts the US on par with the UK and Canada, which are also offering some vulnerable populations a spring shot. It’s a smart choice, says Dr. Matthew Lawrence of the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

“We have vaccines to protect against these dire consequences, so why not use them?” He said. “They don’t do any good just sitting on the shelf.”

WILL YOUNG AND HEALTHY PEOPLE RECEIVE THE AUTUMN DOSE?

Stay tuned The FDA will hold a public meeting in June to consider whether the vaccine prescription needs further adjustment to better match the latest strains of the coronavirus — just as it adjusts flu vaccines every year. And part of that discussion will be whether younger, healthier people need boosters.

The updated Pfizer and Moderna grafts in use now target the BA.4 and BA.5 versions of the omicrons, which have been replaced by an ever-changing list of omicron descendants. However, while protection against mild infections is short-lived, these updated doses continue to do well against severe illness and death even from the newest options, Marks said.

Whether the prescription is adjusted again or not, Tuesday’s move “essentially prepares for a simpler and more direct way to vaccinate people,” he said. and winter months.

SETTINGS FOR CHILD SHOTS, ALSO

Millions of children in the US still haven’t received their initial COVID-19 shots, but Tuesday’s move means they, too, could get the most up-to-date shots. Unvaccinated toddlers aged 6 months to 5 years can choose two Moderna shots or three Pfizer-BioNTech shots. Children as young as 5 years of age may receive two doses of Moderna or one Pfizer shot.

The FDA said that children already fully or partially vaccinated with the original Pfizer or Moderna shots can receive the bivalent vaccine, but the number of doses will depend on their vaccination history.

WHAT ABOUT NOVAVAX VACCINE?

Novavax makes a more traditional type of COVID-19 vaccine, and its original formula remains available for people who don’t need the Pfizer or Moderna options. On Tuesday, Novavax said it is preparing to release several additional formulas in case the FDA requests a fall update.

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The Associated Press Department of Health and Science receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Science and Education Media Group. AP is solely responsible for all content.

Evidence suggests that cancer survivors may be at increased risk of cardiovascular disease in later years.

However, heart scans can reveal early damage to the heart, potentially opening the door for more personalized follow-up care for cancer survivors.

Although previous studies have suggested that people who have been treated for cancer may be at greater risk for future cardiovascular problems such as stroke or heart failure, they have mostly focused on the first year after cancer diagnosis.

Few have examined long-term risks or included cardiovascular imaging to pinpoint damage that has not yet resulted in symptoms.

To fill these gaps, Dr Zahra Raisi-Estabrag of Queen Mary University of London and colleagues assessed the cardiovascular health of 18,714 UK Biobank participants with a previous diagnosis of lung, breast, prostate, blood, uterine or intestinal cancer and compared them. with an equal number of participants without a history of cancer tracking their cardiovascular health for almost 12 years.

Nearly a third of cancer survivors developed cardiovascular problems during the study period, compared with a quarter of people in the control group.

The highest rates of new CVD were seen in survivors of lung cancer or blood cancer, with almost half of them developing CVD in later years, the most common of which were coronary heart disease, abnormal heart rhythms, and heart failure.

In contrast, the most common cardiovascular problems among breast cancer survivors were heart failure, inflammation of the lining around the heart (pericarditis), and mechanical problems with the heart.

These differences are most likely a reflection of specific characteristics of the cancer and its treatments, Raisi-Estabrague said.

The team also reviewed the heart MRI results of 1,354 study participants for whom they were available. This revealed significant and detrimental changes in heart size and function in breast and blood cancer survivors. The results are published in the journal Heart.

Although this was an observational study and cannot prove that cancer or cancer treatment was the cause of this increased cardiovascular risk, blood cancer patients were treated with chemotherapy, which is known to be harmful to heart tissue, as well as radiation therapy aimed at heart tissue. chest, the researchers explained.

Some breast cancer treatments are also known to affect heart function, although it is likely that general vascular risk factors such as smoking, being overweight or diabetes, and biological processes associated with the cancer itself also contributed to this elevated heart rate. vascular risk. among cancer survivors.

“This study adds to existing knowledge about the impact of certain cancer treatments on cardiovascular disease in cancer survivors,” said Martin Ledwick, Chief Information Nurse at Cancer Research UK.

“This can help inform strategies for how some cancer survivors should be monitored in the long term, especially in situations where they have been discharged from cancer surveillance and are under the care of their GPs.”

Writing in related editorialProf. José Benchs of the University of Colorado and Dr. Tara Leh of Beth Israel Lahey Health in Massachusetts, said, “Fantastic progress in the treatment and even cure of cancer has undoubtedly highlighted the need for post-cancer treatment like never before.”

Confirmation that increased cardiovascular risk persists long after cancer is diagnosed, and that certain deleterious changes can potentially be detected on heart scans before patients develop symptoms, should allow clinicians to start improving strategies for following up such cancers. people.

“This study opens the door to some precision in the follow-up treatment of cancer survivors,” they said.