FDA Advisers Back the Same COVID-19 Vaccine for initial Shots

(CTN News) – The same coronavirus strain will be the focus of future COVID-19 vaccine doses and boosters, according to a majority decision by FDA advisers on Thursday.

However, several questioned whether or not all Americans should get the injections every year.

To make its COVID-19 vaccination policy more straightforward, the government is debating whether to advise Americans to obtain an annual COVID-19 booster dose.

However, a few of the expert advisory group’s members requested more thorough information on the advantages of yearly vaccinations for young, healthy persons.

“Our location has significantly changed. Our population is highly immune, “Hayley Gans, a paediatrics professor at Stanford University Medical Center, said. How long does immunity remain after a person has it?

Late last year, COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) announced upgraded versions of their COVID vaccinations designed to target Omicron variants in addition to the original coronavirus. Those were exclusively used as booster injections in the US.

The FDA advisory committee unanimously supported administering such doses as part of the first series for those who have not yet received the COVID-19 vaccine.

Although some vaccine manufacturers could be able to create updated shots more rapidly, the FDA said that it anticipated hosting a conference later in the year to discuss the composition of doses for the autumn.

The messenger RNA boosters that are currently on the market were made by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna in about three months last year, but Novavax Inc (NVAX.O) announced on Thursday that the production of a new COVID-19 vaccine that is protein-based and tailored to the current coronavirus variants would take six months.

Following the company’s manufacturing evaluation, the FDA would consider an earlier vaccine schedule like Novavax’s, according to Peter Marks, head of the agency’s Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research.

According to health authorities in the Biden administration, a high degree of protection against serious illness may be offered by yearly, updated COVID-19 booster injections.

Related CTN News:

Updated COVID Vaccines Prevent Infections Against the New XBB-Related Subvariants