US considers whether modified vaccine needed
U.S. health authorities are facing a critical decision: whether to offer new COVID-19 booster shots this fall that are modified to better match recent changes of the shape-shifting coronavirus.
Moderna and Pfizer have tested updated shots against the super-contagious omicron variant, and advisers to the Food and Drug Administration will debate Tuesday whether it’s time to make a switch – setting the stage for similar moves by other countries.
“This is science at its toughest,” FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks told The Associated Press, adding that a final decision is expected within days of the advisory panel’s recommendation.
Current COVID-19 vaccines saved millions of lives around the world in just their first year of use. And the Moderna and Pfizer shots still offer strong protection against the worst outcomes. But those vaccines target the original coronavirus strain, and between waning immunity and a barrage of variants, protection against infections has dropped. The challenge is deciding whether tweaked boosters offer a good chance of blunting another surge when there’s no way to predict which variant will be the main threat.
In an analysis prepared for Tuesday’s meeting, FDA officials acknowledged targeting last winter’s version of omicron is “somewhat outdated” since it already has been replaced by its even more contagious relatives.
Many experts say updated boosters promise at least a little more benefit.
“It is more likely to be helpful” than simply giving additional doses of today’s vaccine, said epidemiologist William Hanage of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
That’s assuming the virus doesn’t throw another curve ball.
“We’re following rather than getting ahead, which is so vexing – that we haven’t come up with a better variantproof vaccine,” said Dr. Eric Topol, head of the Scripps Research Translational Institute.