By targeting newest variants US clears updated COVID boosters
On Wednesday, the first to directly target today’s most common omicron strain, U.S. regulators authorized updated COVID-19 boosters. Further, the shots could begin within days. The move was tweaked by the Food and Drug Administration, the recipe of shots made by Pfizer and rival Moderna that have already saved millions of lives. However, the hope is that the modified boosters will blunt yet another winter surge and help to tamp down the BA.5 omicron relative that continues to spread widely. Dr. Robert Califf, FDA Commissioner said that these updated boosters present us with an opportunity to get ahead of the next COVID-19 wave. Until now, the original coronavirus strain has targeted the COVID-19 vaccines, even as wildly different mutants emerged. The new U.S. boosters are combination, or “bivalent,” shots. Against the newest omicron versions, BA.4 and BA.5, that are considered the most contagious yet they contain half that original vaccine recipe and half protection. A...