FDA panel recommends new COVID-19 shots to target Omicron variant

A group of independent consultants has proposed new formulations for COVID-19 vaccines specifically targeting the Omicron variant.

By a vote of 19-2, the Vaccines and Related Biologicals Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) approved plans to launch newly formulated vaccines this fall, citing the vaccine-resistant properties of the Omicron variant.

Dr. Peter Marks, director of the Center for Biological Evaluation and Research, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) lead vaccine regulator, said Tuesday morning that he hopes to make the new vaccines available as early as October.

The move opens the door to a fourth vaccine for the general population of the United States and a fifth for those who are immunocompromised and over 50.

All currently available versions of COVID-19 vaccines were formulated after the original Wuhan strain emerged two years ago.

While still effective in preventing severe infection or death in most cases, the Omicron variant has been mutated to prevent front-end protection from infection.

This change will allow both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna to begin distributing newly formulated injections that should be able to prevent infection of the Omicron variant with previous versions of the virus.

The FDA is expected to follow the lead of its advisors and grant emergency use approval for the new shots at some point this week.

After that, the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will likely allow vaccines as well.

In preparation for Tuesday’s meeting, Pfizer released data on Saturday showing the effectiveness of the updated vaccine against the highly contagious strain of the virus.

Data includes more than 1,200 people who have already received both the original two-dose vaccine series and booster injections.

The study found a significant increase in effective antibodies to Omicron in the participants. Pfizer’s main rival in shooting, Moderna, released similar data for its Omicron-specific shots earlier this month.

“The data demonstrate the ability of our Omicron-adapted monovalent and bivalent candidate vaccines to significantly improve variant-specific antibody neutralization responses,” he said. Uğur Şahin, CEO and co-founder of BioNTech, a German company that collaborates with Pfizer in the development and production of footage.

“Omicron has newly developed bottom lines that exceed BA.1 and tend to increase immunity escape potential.”

These hits were long sought after in January when the then-new strain caused 800,000 new cases a day, as mutations in the spike protein allowed it to evade immunity to the vaccine.

But since then, experts have noticed that the variant is lighter than its predecessors, despite being more transferable.

However, this has led to a sharp decline in demand for additional injections and a reduction in pandemic anxiety among the general population.

However, whether Americans want extra hits is still up in the air, especially as the Covid situation in the country stabilizes.

A May Gallup poll found that only 31% of Americans said they were “quite worried” or “very worried” about the contraction of COVID-19.

The survey points to the changing state of the virus as America approaches summer. In previous years, warmer months were accompanied by massive waves of devastating viruses.

The study was conducted in mid-April, when the downward trend in cases, which had existed for about three months after the Omicron winter peak in mid-January, began to reverse.

Participants were asked what their feelings were about the pandemic, the virus, and the personal restraint strategies they used or ignored in their daily lives.

The study also revealed that 64% of Americans believe the pandemic is getting better. During the investigation, cases dropped to just under 30,000 a day, making it one of the lowest since the pandemic began in March 2020.

About 21% of Americans said they believed the situation was more or less the same, and only 12% believed it was getting worse. These few Americans last believed that the situation had deteriorated in the summer of 2021, when cases hit rock bottom just before the Delta variant exploded.

These good feelings also led to some behavioral changes. Only 17% of Americans reported maintaining social distancing, the lowest point of the pandemic to date. Just under a third of Americans said they avoid large crowds, a fifth said they avoid public places, and only 15% said they avoid small gatherings.

These numbers are also pandemic lows, according to Gallup reports.