The Biden administration is preparing to launch a coronavirus booster campaign in September weeks earlier than expected with a new, reformulated vaccine designed to provide stronger protection against the omicron subvariants sweeping the country, the Food and Drug Administration said Friday.

FDA accelerates booster campaign to September, emphasizes new formula

At the same time, the FDA has decided against making adults younger than 50 eligible for second boosters of the existing vaccine, the agency added. The issue has been debated within the administration for weeks, with some officials pushing for broader use of the current shots and others arguing for a focus on the fall campaign. The FDA, in announcing its fall strategy, said it had received assurances from the vaccine manufacturers — Moderna and Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech that reformulated boosters will be ready in September. Those boosters will contain components from the omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 as well as the original formula, which was based on the version of the virus that spread globally in early 2020. The hope is that the bivalent shots will be more effective against a rapidly evolving virus and shield Americans from a potential fall and winter surge.

The FDA has also continued its calls for people younger than 50 to get a single booster shot, and for older Americans and people with compromised immune systems to receive two. Because coronavirus cases are increasing, it urged people to get boosters as soon as they are eligible, even as the agency prepares to launch the fall vaccination drive. They said people who get boosters now still will be eligible to get the reformulated vaccine later.

The announcement Friday ended strenuous debate among the administration’s top health officials. Ashish Jha, the White House’s coronavirus coordinator, and Anthony S. Fauci, Biden’s chief medical adviser, favored making second boosters broadly available this summer. But they said it was the FDA’s decision, and Peter Marks, the agency’s top vaccine official, had qualms. The White House referred questions about the modified boosters to the FDA

Source: This news is originally published by washingtonpost

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