COVID-19 shots from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. should be updated to include components that target the highly transmissible omicron variant, the version of the virus that causes most of the world’s cases, U.S. regulatory advisers said.
Members of the panel that advises the Food and Drug Administration voted 19-2 Tuesday in favor of recommending adding an omicron-specific element to the shots. The FDA doesn’t have to follow the recommendations of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, but it usually does.
Whether, how and when to alter shots to target omicron has become an increasingly important question as the coronavirus continues to spread and mutate. Although transmission is currently low in most communities across the U.S., new variants have shown increasing signs of ability to evade the effects of vaccines, adding urgency to determining how to control them with new shots.
