As the virus evolves, the vaccine needs to update to be effective, says the FDA

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) convened a meeting on Wednesday. The purpose of this meeting was to have a better understanding of the future of Covid-19 booster shots in light of the rapid mutation of the virus.

Expert advisors at the FDA discussion will evaluate who would be eligible for future booster shots, the interval between doses and if the FDA’s role in updating vaccinations would be similar to the present flu shot process.

According to the FDA, as the virus evolves, the presently licensed Covid-19 vaccines may need to be upgraded to guarantee a higher level of resistance. They may need to update the vaccines before WHO drops a worldwide recommendation.

This comes after a study found that the effectiveness of both Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines dropped shockingly – 60% after 25 weeks of the shot and 17% after hospitalization from a mild variant of omicron.

The virus has had an impact on the entire world.  The concept of “herd immunity” was proposed as a possible approach to protecting people during the pandemic. But with the development of vaccines and booster shots, we’ve made tremendous headway toward resuming normalcy.

However, as the virus continues to evolve, the effectiveness of vaccines is uncertain. As the COVID19 virus lacks phenotypic stability, the virus becomes elusive, continuously mutating, making it difficult to achieve herd immunity.

According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, MD, “classical” herd immunity for COVID “almost certainly is an unattainable goal.” Dr. Fauci is the chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

In the hope to answer all the questions that revolve around the issue, the FDA is scheduled to convene with experts to discuss how they are to prepare for the future, where periodic vaccination for COVID might become the norm.

Pfizer and Moderna are both working to develop Omicron-specific boosters as well as shots that mix existing vaccinations with the variant-specific framework. They have reached the clinical trial phase.