COVID-19

FDA Authorizes Updated COVID Booster Shots

Published SEP 1 2022

Story

Image credit: Time

The Facts

On Wed., the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a COVID booster shot targeting the Omicron subvariants in anticipation of a surge of COVID cases in the fall and winter.
CNBC
The booster doses are intended to prevent severe illness and death from the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, and could be available as soon as this Labor Day weekend, pending CDC approval.
wapo
The boosters are the first major reformulation since the COVID vaccines debuted in 2020. Pfizer and BioNTech will offer a version for people as young as 12 years old, while Moderna's version will target people 18 and older.
nytimes
While case counts for COVID infections remain high, hospitalizations have remained relatively low, with 40k people currently hospitalized by the virus - a decrease of 10% since early Aug., and significantly lower than hospitalization from 2021's Delta variant.
nytimes
The updated boosters contain messenger RNA from the original strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as well as from the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants.
FOX News
The CDC's independent advisory committee plans to meet Thurs. and Fri. to review the proposal, before the agency signs off on approvals for distribution.
CNBC

Sources Split

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The Spin

Narrative A

Overall there's reason to be hopeful. The number of new COVID cases and deaths has been falling nearly everywhere in the world. However, this fall and winter in the Northern Hemisphere could see another spike in hospitalizations and deaths, so the roll-out of an Omicron-specific booster is the perfect timing in this ongoing battle against the virus.

ABC News

Narrative B

There are a lot of questions here. Without long-term human trials, it's unclear if these new boosters will be widely accepted by the public. In addition, it's uncertain if they will be any more effective than the original formula, which is still highly efficient at preventing severe illness and death. The public should also be educated that the new formula will not reduce the number of total infections - we may need to proceed with caution and limit our expectations.

Science