Jan. 24, 2023 — Is it wise to switch to an annual COVID-19 shoot? FDA, of which suggested Monday’s changes say the annual shot could streamline the process compared with regular shots to ensure more people are vaccinated and protected from severe COVID-19 infection.
A national advisory committee plans to vote on the recommendation on Thursday.
If accepted, the vaccine formulation will be finalized each June and Americans can begin annual vaccinations Coronavirus disease Get your shot in the fall, just like your annual flu shot.
Remember: Older Americans and those who are immunocompromised may need more than one dose of COVID-19 per year.
Most Americans haven’t kept their COVID-19 boosters up to date. Only 15 percent of Americans got their latest booster dose, and nine in 10 of Americans age 12 or older have completed their primary series of vaccinations. Issues with getting a vaccine into people’s arms make the change worth considering, the FDA said in a briefing document for Thursday’s meeting.
“Given these complexities and available data, a single vaccine component should be considered for both primary and booster vaccinations,” the agency said.
once a year COVID-19 vaccine Could be simpler, but would it be just as effective? WebMD asked health experts their most pressing questions about the proposal.
Pros and Cons of Annual Shooting
Leana Wen, MD, a professor of public health at George Washington University and a former Baltimore health commissioner, said the annual COVID-19 and flu shots would make it easier for doctors and health care providers to share vaccination recommendations and reminders.
“It would be easier [for primary care doctors and other health care providers] Instead of counting the number of boosters or people having to get two separate shots, our patients are encouraged to get a set of vaccines every year,” she said.
“Employers, nursing homes and other facilities could offer both vaccines at the same time, and maybe even a combination shot in the future.”
Despite the greater convenience, not everyone is enthusiastic about the idea of an annual COVID vaccine shot. COVID-19 behaves differently than the flu, says Eric Topol, MD, editor-in-chief of Medscape, WebMD’s sister site for healthcare professionals.
He said there was “no scientific basis” for trying to mimic a flu shot and get a year of protection from a single COVID-19 immunization.
Carlos del Rio, MD, of Emory University in Atlanta and president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, agrees.
“We would like to see something as simple and similar as the flu. But I also think we need to have science to guide us, and I don’t think science is necessarily there right now. I look forward to seeing the debate on Thursday on VRBAC, an advisory committee. According to The information I’ve seen and the data we have, I don’t believe it’s a meaningful strategy,” he said.
“One of the things we’ve learned from this virus is that it throws curve balls a lot, and when we make decisions, things change. So, I think we’re going to keep doing research, we’re following the science, we’re following the science rather than the most convenient way to make a decision.”
COVID-19 is not seasonal like the flu
“Influenza is very seasonal, and you can predict the months it’s going to hit here,” Topol said. “COVID is a year-round problem as we all know.” It’s not about a particular season, he said, but about times when people are more likely to congregate indoors.
Annelies Zinkernagel, MD, of the University of Zurich and president of the European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, said European officials have so far not considered an annual COVID-19 vaccination schedule.
Regarding seasonality, she said, “What we do know is that in closed rooms in the U.S. and Europe, we may be more crowded. If you are more indoors or outdoors, it will definitely make a big difference.”
Which variant will it target?
To determine which variants a yearly shot of the COVID-19 vaccine would attack, one possibility is for the FDA to use the same process it uses for the flu shot, Wen said.
“At the start of flu season, it’s always an educated guess as to which flu strain is going to dominate,” she said.
“We can’t predict which variants might be developed for COVID in the future, but hopefully the booster will cover a wide range of possible variants.”
Topol agrees that it’s hard to predict. Whether “new variants of the virus, perhaps entirely new families other than Omicron, will emerge in the future is uncertain.”
read FDA Briefing Document “It was frustrating to me that it was basically just renovation. There was no desire to do something bold,” Topol said. “I’d rather see a positive push for next-generation vaccines and nasal vaccines.”
Dr. Jeffrey Townsend, a professor of biostatistics, ecology and evolutionary biology at the Yale School of Public Health, said that to provide the longest protection, “annual injections should Don’t wait too long before taking the medicine.”
“Like the flu shot, there may be some years when the shot is less useful and some years where it’s more useful,” he said, depending on how the virus has changed over time and which strains the vaccine targets. “On average, the boosters renewed each year should provide the protection our analysis predicts.”
Townsend and colleagues published a predictive research January 5, at Journal of Medical VirologyThey looked at the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines and how much protection they provided over a 6-year period, if people were given every 6 months, every year, or with more time between vaccinations.
They reported that annual boosters with the Moderna vaccine provided 75% protection against infection, while annual Pfizer vaccines provided 69% protection. The predictions take into account new variants that emerge over time based on the behavior of other coronaviruses, Townsend said.
“These percentages against infection may appear large compared to what we’ve experienced in the past 2 years of pandemic disease and the large surges in infections we’ve experienced,” he said. Not a pandemic risk.”
