JAB TIME

FDA Advisers Recommend COVID Booster for Omicron Variant

An FDA panel recommended a new formulation of the COVID-19 vaccine that targets the Omicron variant, which has dominated cases across the U.S.

Advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that Americans should receive another COVID-19 booster this fall that specifically targets the Omicron variant, The New York Times reports. An expert committee recommended the FDA begin working on a new formulation of the vaccine for Omicron because of the variant’s dominance in COVID-19 cases across the country since December 2021. The FDA appeared to lean toward creating a vaccine based on the existing formula combined with two subvariants of Omicron, BA.4 and BA.5, that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate make up more than half of new cases in the U.S. A preliminary timeline released by the FDA’s director of its vaccine division shows the agency approving a reformulation by the end of July and rolling out boosters to the public by October. “We’re all troubled by the steady erosion of immune protection. We’re going to be behind the eight ball if we wait longer,” said Mark Sawyer, an infectious disease specialist.