FDA scientists have proposed a new, simplified process for developing and administering annual booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines, using a process that resembles the way flu shots roll out every year
was put out ahead of an advisory panel meeting scheduled for Thursday. It’s not yet clear if and when the plan may be put into action or whether those expert advisers will sign on or make alternative recommendations, which the FDA is not bound to follow.
Information around booster eligibility and availability has often been confusing and poorly communicated, which has undoubtedly played a role in the low national uptake of the bivalent shots. The most recent boosters, introduced last year, target the original strain of the coronavirus but also the Omicron strain and its descendants, which now make up all circulating variations.
Under the FDA’s suggested plan, officials would decide on an updated formula of the COVID vaccines each June. One dose of the new booster would be recommended for most of the population and two doses for seniors, the immunocompromised, young children, and others more vulnerable to severe COVID. Asexplained Monday, this would mean treating COVID vaccines just like flu shots:
Under the new approach, most people would be advised to simply get whatever the latest version of the vaccine is annually each fall like the flu vaccine. They wouldn’t have to worry about how many shots they’ve already gotten and which one they got when. Those who still need to receive two doses initially, such as young children and older people, would use the same formulation for all three shots.
Many public-health experts have long expected COVID shots would become annual, and the Biden administration began framing them that way months ago amid the rollout of the bivalent boosters. But questions have lingered about whether new shots every year are necessary for all Americans and whether updated shots are actually more effective than the original vaccine formulas.
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