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The Food and Drug Administration has produced a roadmap for what Covid-19 vaccination could appear like in the longer term.
In a briefing paper released on Monday, the FDA said vaccines will likely need to be updated annually because the virus continues to evolve. The agency will select a Covid strain to be vaccinated within the spring, in order that updated vaccines might be introduced every September in time for the autumn vaccination campaign.
In keeping with the briefing paper, most people would receive one injection to revive protection against the virus. This might apply to people who’ve been exposed to the height protein of the virus a minimum of twice, either through vaccination or infection.
However the elderly and people with a weakened immune system may need two doses, in keeping with the proposed vaccination schedule. Young children who previously only received one injection may also receive two doses.
The FDA released a roadmap ahead of a gathering of the agency’s independent vaccine experts scheduled for Thursday. An authority panel will vote on whether all U.S. bivalent injection Covid vaccines are to be produced, meaning they protect against each the BA.5 omicron sub-variant and the unique Covid strain, discovered in Wuhan, China in late 2019 r.
Currently, only Moderna and Pfizer boosters goal the omicron variant. If adopted, the first series would also contain the omicron strain.
The proposed Covid vaccine update system resembles the way in which the FDA selects flu vaccines annually. The agency said it could update and roll out Covid vaccines without clinical data, which can also be the case with the annual flu vaccine revision process.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is anticipated to offer more information on Thursday about its investigation into what it described as a “impossible” risk of stroke in seniors who received Pfizer’s omicron booster vaccine.
The CDC received initial safety data from the Vaccine Safety Datalink late last 12 months. One other review of 4 other major databases found no increased risk of stroke, however the CDC’s investigation is ongoing.