FDA Advisory Panel Endorses Omicron-Specific Covid Boosters—Here’s When You Should Get Your Next Shot

An advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday recommended the agency push to field new Covid-19 booster shots targeting the highly contagious omicron variant, a move some hope will offer a boost in the fight against the rapidly evolving coronaviruses

The FDA advisory committee voted 19 to 2 to recommend a switch over to new booster shots for Omicron, but several steps remain before updated shots will become available.

Adults ages 50 years and older, as well as those 12 years and older who are immunocompromised, should get a second booster that is available now.

Those without high-risk conditions 60 years old and younger can probably wait for an Omicron-specific booster.

People who have recently had Covid who are not at high risk for severe illness don't need to get another booster right away as they're likely protected from severe disease for several months.

High-risk people shouldn't hold out for an updated second booster shot, as they are at a greater risk for severe illness, according to a new study.

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It all depends on what you're trying to accomplish with the vaccine. I don't think boosting healthy people to prevent mild disease is a strategy.

Key Background

Both Pfizer and Moderna released clinical trial data this month showing Omicron-specific bivalent shots, a vaccine with two different targets, the original coronaviruses strain and the omicron variant. Several companies, including Johnson & Johnson and Novavax, began developing the new shots after it was shown that new Covid strains are better at evading immunity from vaccines and previous coronaviruses. During Tuesday's meeting, Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, warned that several factors could lead to a rise in Covid infections. The World Health Organization said earlier this month that updated vaccines might be necessary. The changing nature of the Omicron strain poses a challenge for vaccine developers trying to target the most common variant.

Surprising Fact

According to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 accounted for over half of all Covid cases in the US last week. As more information becomes available, the data may change.

Boosters for Covid are available in the fall. The FDA said it would need to approve the new shots in July in order to make them available in October. A vaccine targeting Omicron could be ready by July, while a vaccine targeting subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 could be available by October, according to a Moderna spokesman.