The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed a move to simplify the covid vaccination schedule and give the doses annually, every fall, as is currently the case with regular flu vaccines.
In a document published by the regulator on its website, the FDA points out the need for the U.S. population to receive a booster of the vaccine every year, regardless of previous jabs. However, the FDA notes that young people who have not been infected, the elderly or the immunocompromised may need two annual doses.
Uncertainty among scientists
It is a proposal that again surprised some scientists, including some of the FDA's own advisors. According to The New York Times, several consultants said the proposed plan was not supported by sufficient studies. "Going forward, I’d like to see data collected to try to tell if we’re doing the right thing." said Dr. Eric Rubin, one of the advisors and editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine.
The FDA plans to evaluate each June the evolution of the virus and choose the predominant strain in order to adapt the annual vaccine booster.
The FDA's Advisory Committee on Vaccines and Biologicals is scheduled to meet on Thursday, to evaluate the future of the covid vaccine, and, vote on whether or not to support the regulator's recommendations on the annual establishment of the vaccine or the double dose to young and old.
Event materials are now available online for our next Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee meeting, which is scheduled to start Thursday. The draft agenda, roster, briefing documents and other materials are posted here: https://t.co/6NNAii6nHi pic.twitter.com/I9TWeTW6Vh
— U.S. FDA (@US_FDA) January 23, 2023
