The AGS Older Adults Vaccine Initiative Podcast
Are you interested in communicating the importance of vaccines for older adults? This podcast from the AGS Older Adults Vaccine Initiative features the editors of the initiative’s Online Curriculum discussing key takeaway points on essential vaccinations for older adults with the curriculum authors – all national experts in their topic. Designed to provide health care professionals with an integral roadmap to the tools, knowledge, and approaches to increasing immunization rates in older adults, it includes information on essential vaccines, coding, quality improvement and vaccine hesitancy. Did our podcast series leave you wanting to learn more about essential vaccines for older adults? Visit our website to access the other AGS Older Adults Vaccine Initiative tools and resources, vaccines.agscocare.org.
The AGS Older Adults Vaccine Initiative is funded through a subaward under a Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) contract with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) called Specialty Societies Advancing Adult Immunization (SSAAI).The content is solely the responsibility of the American Geriatrics Society (https://www.americangeriatrics.org/) and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The AGS Older Adults Vaccine Initiative Podcast
BONUS EPISODE: Updated COVID-19 Vaccination Guidelines
Join Dr. Sharon Brangman, from SUNY Upstate Medical University and Dr. Ken Schmader, from Duke University Medical Center and the Director, Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center at Durham VA Health Care System, as they discuss the recent updates and recommendations for the COVID-19 vaccine.
To view a transcript click here then select the transcript tab.
Sharon Brangman, MD, AGSF: Hello everyone. We're back with a bonus episode. I'm Dr. Sharon Brangman and I'm here with Dr. Kenneth Schmader and we're going to give you information about the new guidelines for the COVID vaccines.
As you know, the COVID virus has different variants and there are new guidelines with a new vaccine. So Dr. Schmader, can you tell us more about that?
Kenneth Schmader, MD: Absolutely, Dr. Brangman. Thanks for having me on. Right now the CDC recommends a new formulation (they call it the 2023-2024 COVID19 vaccine formulation) for older adults, in fact, for anyone over the age of 12. Remember those bivalent products we had from Moderna and Pfizer?
Well, they're no longer authorized in the U. S. They're gone. And this new 23-24 formulation includes products from Moderna, the mRNA vaccine, Pfizer also an mRNA and Novavax, it has a protein [01:00] adjuvant vaccine. They've all been updated to a monovalent vaccine that's based on the Omicron XPB sublimage of, uh, SARS COV 2.
Sharon Brangman, MD, AGSF: So are we to anticipate that every year there'll be a new formulation of the COVID vaccine.
Kenneth Schmader, MD: Yes, so that's the plan right now. In fact, this new XBB formulation is just for this season. The strategy the FDA and CDC are planning on is probably similar to influenza, that is, you develop a vaccine for use each fall.
It's formulated against the most recent circulating variant. This XBB is actually a sub lineage of the Omicron variant that's been circulating earlier in the year, and there are other sub variants circulating along with XBB, but they're all related to Omicron.
Sharon Brangman, MD, AGSF: So, are there any changes in the guidelines as to who should receive this vaccine?
Kenneth Schmader, MD: For older [02:00] adults, no. All older adults are recommended to get it. And like I said, all, unless it's an somebody under the age of 12. And one of the reasons they've recommended it is during the most recent variant circulation of the XBB, there have been human clinical and animal preclinical studies showing that it significantly increases neutralizing antibodies, including in older adults, that should be protective, at least at some level, against the variants that are circulating.
That's what led to the FDA approval and the CDC recommendation for these vaccines.
Sharon Brangman, MD, AGSF: So, Dr. Schrader, can you tell us if there are any recommendations for our patients who are immunocompromised?
Kenneth Schmader, MD: Yes, actually there are two sets of recommendations for immunocompromised individuals. More doses are required than that of immunocompetent individuals.
And of course we have a lot of immunocompromised older adults who we care for. So there are more doses [03:00] needed with these vaccines, and it's best to refer to the CDC guidelines to get the exact number of doses
For people who are not immunocompromised or immunocompetent, it's actually easier. People who have received any of the prior vaccines, and that's most older adults, simply need one dose of the updated formulation from either Moderna, Pfizer, or Novavax.
Sharon Brangman, MD, AGSF: So, thank you very much, and you've been listening to this bonus episode with the latest information on the COVID vaccines. Thank you for listening.