The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) told vaccine makers Friday that its fall COVID-19 update should target Omicron strain XBB.1.5.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this variant is currently responsible for about 40 percent of all infections.
Vaccine companies have been working on XBB specific vaccines so these will be ready by the end of the summer. Company officials told an FDA advisory panel Thursday that they can provide XBB.1.5 vaccines earlier than other potential strains.
That panel voted unanimously at its Thursday meeting to target only one XBB strain.
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Friday’s FDA guidance means the COVID-19 vaccine will only be updated for the second time, after the first version targeted the original strain of the virus and the most current version targeted both the original virus and the earlier Omicron subvariants BA. 4 and BA.5 aims. .
But the protection against major diseases that these vaccines offer wears off over time – protection against minor diseases was initially low – and ancestral strains and these omicron strains are no longer around.
The targeted fight against the trunk
It’s a similar strategy to how scientists developed the annual flu shot, except the different strains of and keep people out of the hospital.
The upcoming challenge for the FDA and CDC is deciding when to notify healthcare providers to stop administering the current version of the vaccine.
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Gas stoves increase levels of carcinogenic benzene indoors. According to a study by the American Medical Association, using the BMI metric alone has done “historical damage.”
Health officials also need to convince the public to get the new vaccine. Only 17 percent of Americans have received a bivalent booster dose since it was introduced last year.
Data presented at Thursday’s meeting showed that protection from hospitalization decreases significantly four to six months after a bivalent booster dose. Older adults are most at risk.
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