The FDA is authorizing a second omicron-targeted bivalent COVID-19 booster vaccine for people over 65 or who are immunocompromised, the agency announces.
they offer stronger protection against infection and serious illness from omicron than the original shot.
President Joe Biden receives his updated COVID-19 booster in the South Court Auditorium at the White House campus on Oct. 25, 2022, in Washington, D.C.Now, they'll be the only vaccines available in the US. Adults who haven't been vaccinated and who want to get vaccinated can get just a single dose of that vaccine, rather than a series of multiple shots. Unvaccinated children will still get multiple shots.
Vaccine uptake has slowed to a crawl in the U.S. Only 16.7% of people in the US overall and less than half of people over 65 have received a bivalent booster shot, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Even though FDA is making a second bivalent booster shot available to people over 65, it's not clear how widely it'll be used.
But a single, annual shot could help encourage more vaccination, says ABC News contributor Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children's Hospital"Simple and clear messaging is critical when it comes to ensuring vaccine uptake," he said. "Moving to a model that resembles the yearly flu shot campaign will help focus messaging and help increase population immunity ahead of a potential fall surge.
"We still have to recognize that the future of covid remains uncertain and this trial vaccination strategy may have to be modified," he says.
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