FDA is considering making changes in the nation’s COVID-19 vaccine strategy.
Making COVID-19 Vaccines Available to Everyone
The main goal of this is to make it easier to get vaccinated against COVID and adopt an approach similar to what is used for the flu vaccine. This will come with updates every year to match the virus’s strain. FDA made this public by releasing an outlined set of documents from a meeting with the agency’s Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC).
According to a post by NPR, for people who want to be fully protected against COVID, they must first receive their primary vaccinations, which consist of two doses of the original vaccine administered two weeks apart. This should be followed by a booster two months later. The current set of shots proved to be effective against omicron.
FDA is considering making changes in the nation’s COVID-19 vaccine strategy. (Photo: NPR)
The New Approach Suggested by FDA
The new approach simply tells the majority of people to receive the latest version of the vaccine annually like the flu vaccine. Young children and older people still need to receive two doses initially and would use the same formulation for all three shots.
FDA stated that they anticipate conducting an assessment of SARS-CoV-2 strains at least annually. This is also to engage VRBPAC in early June of each year regarding strain selection for the fall season. They added that updated vaccines would be ready for use by September of each year. The agency noted that if there was a more dangerous variant to emerge, it would be labeled as “as-needed and emergent basis.”
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