Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration advised manufacturers to reformulate booster shots to specifically protect against the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron variants.
"We have advised manufacturers seeking to update their COVID-19 vaccines that they should develop modified vaccines that add an Omicron BA.4/5 spike protein component to the current vaccine composition to create a two component (bivalent) booster vaccine, so that the modified vaccines can potentially be used starting in early to mid-fall 2022," Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a statement. "Currently available vaccines have helped reduce the most serious outcomes (hospitalization and death) caused by COVID-19, but results from post-authorization observational studies have shown that effectiveness of primary vaccination wanes over time against certain variants, including Omicron."
