FDA advisors recommend changing future COVID shots to include Omicron component
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A panel of advisors to the U.S. FDA has recommended that COVID-19 boosters include a component that protects specifically against the Omicron variant.
The vote was 19-2.
Much of the discussion focused on whether the component should be against the "original" Omicron variant, BA.1, or for newer BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants. However, the voting question did not specifically ask the members to decide between the variant or subvariants.
Also, the panel was not asked to vote on whether future boosters should be bivalent -- containing protection against Omicron as well as the original SARS-CoV-2 variant -- or just provide protection against Omicron.
Vaccine manufacturers have developed Omicron-specific vaccines, but have noted that they tend to generate a lower antibody response against BA.4 and BA.5.
The panel's vote comes as the CDC on Tuesday said that the more contagious BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants are becoming dominant.
Vaccine makers Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX), Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) and Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) made presentations during the Vaccine and Related Biologics Products Advisory Committee meeting.
Also on Tuesday, a U.S. FDA official said the agency would decide by early July whether to change booster makeup to prepare for a campaign beginning in October.