FDA Advisory Committee Split On Updates To COVID-19 Vaccines

The AP (5/22, Perrone, Neergaard) reports the FDA’s advisory panel was split Thursday “on whether drugmakers need to update their COVID-19 vaccines for next season.” The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee consists of outside experts who “have met annually since the launch of the first COVID-19 vaccines to discuss tweaking their recipes to stay ahead of the virus.” Some panelists “voiced support for a switch to a newer coronavirus subtype named LP.8.1,” the current dominant subtype. Other panelists “noted that subtype is such a close relative that last year’s shots seem to offer cross-protection, at least for now but with no guarantee there wouldn’t be a different version circulating by the time a vaccination campaign ramps up” later this year.