The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves Sanofi's Vaxelis, a vaccine that immunizes kids from six diseases: tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, Hib, poliomyelitis, and hepatitis B.
French pharmaceutical lab Sanofi, together with Merck, created the vaccine that is designed for 6 weeks old up to 4 years old and is to be taken in three doses. Reports say that production is ongoing and that the target date of release in the market at the earliest will be in 2020.
Six Out Of 14 Diseases
"Sanofi and MSD are working to maximize production of VAXELIS to allow for a sustainable supply to meet anticipated U.S. demand," the company said in a statement.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention laid out 14 diseases that children need to be immunized against, and Vaxelis already took care of the six. Other diseases not covered are rotavirus, hepatitis A, mumps, varicella or chickenpox, pneumococcal disease, measles, rubella or German measles, and influenza.
Vaccine And Autism
Most kids from the United States are getting vaccines although more and more parents are starting to double think having their children vaccinated. According to CDC, the number of unvaccinated 2-year-olds and below quadrupled in the past 17 years. Meanwhile, the spread of malicious rumors, including one that links autism and vaccines, has greatly affected the decision-making of parents.
Adding fuel to the fire are government officials who echoed the same sentiment, with Republican Mark Green saying he believed the connection between the two, although he had since retracted his statements. The anti-vaccine movement had also been spreading fake news in social media and had been citing a 1998 study that was found to be erroneous.
The researcher of that decades-old study already retracted the claim but people had already embraced the belief. In retaliation, CDC promoted vaccinations, used numerous studies to back up their stance, and strongly denounced fake news circulating.
