U.S. government advisers will meet early next month to discuss the use of additional Covid-19 booster shots as states and companies lower prevention safeguards such as masking and work at home.
The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee will meet April 6 to discuss the use of future booster doses to address current and potential future virus strains of concern, according to a statement Monday. The panel advises the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on immunizations.
Although Covid shots from Moderna Inc., the partnership of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE and other drugmakers have been largely effective in preventing severe illness and death, their impact has been seen to decline over time and as new variants emerge. The FDA called the meeting for help deciding which populations, such as the elderly or immunocompromised, might need boosters, and when they should be administered.
The agency also aims to develop a framework for determining when the composition of vaccines ought to be changed to address specific strains. Representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health will also participate, and an agenda will be made public two days ahead of the meeting.
While highly transmissible omicron has declined overall, the virus’s BA.2 strain continues to spread, leading to concerns about a resurgence. Pfizer and Moderna have each asked U.S. regulators to clear additional boosters as the protection provided by the first three shots wanes, but the FDA said that no vote is planned at the advisory meeting and there will be no discussion of particular applications.
"Now is the time to discuss the need for future boosters as we aim to move forward safely, with Covid-19 becoming a virus like others such as influenza that we prepare for, protect against, and treat,” Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in the statement.
