The Biden administration will roll out an updated Covid booster shot starting this fall that will better protect against newer variants of the virus.
Pfizer and Moderna told the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) they expect to be able to deliver millions of doses of a newly reformulated vaccine by mid-September. New York Times reported.
As a result, the Biden administration has decided not to expand eligibility for adults under 50 — at least not until the reworded footage is released.
However, the federal government has already started buying millions of doses of the new, reconfigured inoculation.
The soon-to-be-released shots are expected to provide better protection against the Omicron subvariant BA.5, which is now the dominant and most transmissible strain of the virus to date.
Pfizer and Moderna reconfigured their shots, in part in response to recommendations from health officials, who emphasized the urgency of better protection against BA.4 and BA.5.
While the current booster is still effective in preventing severe symptoms and death, hopefully the newer injection would provide more protection against BA.5. It would also come just before a possible winter wave of the virus. All data on the new recording is provisional.
Once the new vaccines are approved by the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), doses will be distributed nationwide in mid-September, Health and Human Services said in a release.
According to the statement, the new vaccines will only be made possible through additional funding from Congress.
“We must remain vigilant in our fight against COVID-19 and continue to expand Americans’ access to the best vaccines and treatments,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.
“As we look at the fall and winter, we’re doing just that — making sure Americans have the tools they need to stay safe and move our country forward,” he added.
Hospital admissions have risen in the US amid a spike in several sub-variants of the virus. Currently, a second booster shot is only available to Americans over 50 or to 12-year-olds who are immunocompromised.
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