FDA vaccine chief says frequent COVID-19 boosters are not sustainable
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A leading health official in the U.S. said that asking people to get frequent COVID-19 booster shots was not sustainable due to vaccine fatigue as he highlighted the need for a long-term strategy for protection against the evolving virus.
Dr. Peter Marks, who heads the Food and Drug Administrationâs vaccine unit, made the remarks just days after the U.S. regulators cleared a second booster shot for older Americans.
At a meeting of an FDA expert panel on Wednesday, Dr. Marks said that the decision to clear the fourth shot of Pfizer (NYSE:PFE)/BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) and Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) COVID-19 vaccines was a âstopgapâ measure, according to The Wall Street Journal. 
âThis is really trying to do the best we can with the knowledge we have at hand, which is something that weâve had to do a fair amount of over the past two years as a public-health agency,â he noted.
According to Dr. Marks, the FDA plans to devise a long-term strategy for COVID-19 immunizations, which can include identifying the new strains for the retooled vaccine, and the data required to support its authorization.
However, Dr. Marks and other experts have highlighted the challenges for a timely update of the vaccines ahead of a potential winter surge in cases.
âItâs going to be hard to generate all the data we want in short order when a new variant emerges,â said Dr. Ofer Levy, one of the panelists, who is also director of the Precision Vaccines Program at Boston Childrenâs Hospital.
Robert Johnson, director of medical countermeasure programs at the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, pointed out that if a variant-specific vaccine is required, clinical trials should start by early May to ensure that enough doses are available for a fall booster campaign.
Meanwhile, several other advisors said that a future COVID-19 shot should target multiple strains of the virus for protection against current variants as well as those that are yet to emerge.
In March, Moderna (MRNA) announced that the first person was dosed in its Phase 2 study for an Omicron-specific booster candidate. The company plans to share data with authorities ahead of the fall booster season.
In January, rival vaccine makers, Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX), announced that the first participant was enrolled in a trial for an Omicron-based vaccine candidate.
Following the emergence of Omicron last year, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), the third COVID-19 vaccine maker to receive FDA authorization for its vector-based shot, pledged to develop a vaccine specifically targeted at the variant.