The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requests the updated coronavirus booster vaccine shots be offered once annually for most residents of the U.S. The document submitted by the agency says that a schedule is to be like the flu vaccine.
A meeting was held recently in which the agency suggested that its committee consisting of vaccine experts should discuss “consideration of periodic updates to COVID-19 vaccine composition, including to the currently authorized or approved vaccines to be available for use in the U.S. in the fall of 2023.”
The agency said that the complete review of the existing evidence on previous exposure to the virus and the vaccine for the virus suggests that from here on out, only one dose of the approved vaccine will be required to reinstate the immunity for a certain period. However, the agency suggests two doses of the Covid vaccine shot for young children and certain older U.S. citizens with compromised immune systems.
Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is to vote on the updation of the original vaccines to match the newer and updated boosters vaccines, those which also target the newer variants of the virus along with the original one. The FDA has no obligation to follow the committee’s recommendations but it has generally gone with the recommendations in the past. The move by the FDA was expected considering President Joe Biden himself along with the administration backed the single annual vaccine shot idea.
President Joe Biden stated that a single Covid vaccine shot per annum will be enough for most residents of the U.S. after he received the updated coronavirus shot. He stated that not getting the vaccine means putting himself and others at risk needlessly.
Among a lot of other items on the agenda, the experts explored whether the FDA’s suggested schedule for the vaccine will be the best protection on offer for citizens. It is worth mentioning that coronavirus has not yet become seasonal, which makes the problem more complex.
Only 3 in 20 people in the United States got the latest coronavirus booster shot which means that vaccination fatigue is also a major problem. Experts would probably like to look into new strategies that could help improve the vaccine’s reach as a new study of vaccinated U.S. residents revealed that lack of eligibility knowledge for the vaccine was the frontrunner in the reasons for not getting the shot.
The FDA hopes this schedule of annual vaccination might lead to easier deployment of vaccines as well as fewer errors in administration and hence a better rate of vaccine coverage. As of now most of the U.S. population needs to get the original two doses of the vaccine with a gap of 20 to 28 days in between, and a booster dose to follow after a few months.
Depending on the panel’s favorable vote on the proposal, Moderna and Pfizer’s bivalent vaccines will be used for all coronavirus vaccine doses.
Also, Read Latest News on Health
