COVID-19 vaccine boosters must be updated this fall to target the latest omicron strain, advisers to the United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommend.
The FDA panel is now pushing for a new version of the vaccine booster, which drops the original COVID strain from its formulation.
COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters Should Be Updated, FDA Advisors Say
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 30: U.S. President Joe Biden receives a fourth dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in the South Court Auditorium on March 30, 2022 in Washington, DC.
According to the Associated Press, the scientific advisers of the FDA discussed the new round of COVID shots in the US, which focus on protecting the population from the new iterations of the virus. It is worth noting that a new variant is now dominating various parts of the world, the XBB omicron variant.
And as such, the FDA advisors are pushing for a recipe change that would update the formulation of booster shots based on the evolution of the virus. The current version still includes the original COVID strain, which various mutations have taken over time.
FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks warns that the coronavirus is likely to be a serious concern come wintertime even as the infections these days have significantly dwindled. He stresses, "[We are] concerned that we may have another wave of COVID-19 when the virus has further evolved, immunity of the population has waned further, and we move indoors for wintertime."
As NBC News reports, the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee unanimously supported the formulation update for the booster shots amidst the domination of the XBB strain. As the virus rapidly evolves, the vaccine also needs to keep up.
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FDA to Make the Final Decision
ERFURT, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 15: Medical staff member inoculates an elderly patient with a booster inoculation of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19 on September 15, 2021 in Erfurt, Germany.
While the committee recommended the update in the COVID-19 vaccine boosters, the final say is still up to the FDA. The advisors only pointed out that the formula needs to target the new XBB strain and drop the original version of the virus.
However, they failed to recommend which specific XBB mutation needs targeting formally. On top of that, the panel also did not include any recommendation for who should get the jabs or the timeline for it. NBC News notes that these details are likely up to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention or the CDC in time for their upcoming advisory committee meeting.
As per US News, a recent CDC study shows that adults who skipped getting an updated COVID booster shot are more vulnerable to hospitalization than those who did. The research shows that those who have not updated their booster jabs have "relatively little remaining protection" against COVID hospitalization versus unvaccinated folks.
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