The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reviewing the home-use vaccine for the 2024-25 flu season.
Earlier this week, AstraZeneca announced that the FDA is reviewing an application for its FluMist nasal spray flu vaccine, which would become the first self-administered flu vaccine in the United States if approved.
FluMist, the only nasal spray to fight the flu, has been on the market in the country since 2003 and can currently only be administered by healthcare professionals, AstraZeneca said. The company added that the nasal spray is supported by a study that found adults ages 18 to 49 can successfully administer the vaccine to themselves or others, including children as young as 2.
AstraZeneca said it expects a response from the FDA during the first quarter of 2024, which, if approved, would have the vaccine spray ready by the 2024-25 flu season.
FluMist will be available for delivery to users’ homes in temperature-controlled packaging, AstraZeneca’s Dr. Lisa Glasser told CNN. However, it can still be applied in a doctor’s office or pharmacy, according to the point of sale.
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A pharmacy worker holds doses of flu vaccine nasal spray.
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AstraZeneca’s move to make the flu vaccine more widely available comes after a recent survey by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases found, according to The Hill, that only about 20 percent of U.S. residents are concerned that they or someone close to them could contract the flu, COVID -19 or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) this year.
The study also found that about 43 percent of adults do not plan or are not sure if they will get a flu shot between 2023 and 2024.
On the other hand, 40 percent said they plan to get vaccinated against COVID-19, while only 40 percent of adults age 60 and older said they plan to get vaccinated against RSV.
Last month, Mandy Cohen, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said only 47 percent of US adults received the vaccine during the 2022-23 flu season, The Hill reported.
That number decreased compared to the previous 2021-22 season, in which 49 percent of adults in the U.S. were vaccinated, the newspaper said.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education