FDA advisers will meet Thursday to discuss how the next round of Covid boosters should be updated to target strains that may be circulating this fall.
It’s an approach that is similar to how the strains are selected for the yearly flu shot.
Scientists assess what strains of the virus are in circulation, and make estimated guesses about which will be the most prevalent, and therefore will be included in the vaccine.Â
This will be only the second time the Covid vaccines have been updated.
Last year, the FDA authorized new shots that targeted both the original coronavirus strain as well as the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron subvariants, two strains that are no longer in circulation in the U.S.
The first iteration of the vaccines, authorized in December 2020, only targeted the original coronavirus.
In briefing documents published online Monday, scientists at the FDA said the redesigned boosters should target at least one of the dominant variants of XBB, a strain that emerged in October and stems from two omicron subvariants.
New XBB strains have continued to emerge since last fall.
As of Saturday, XBB.1.5 is the dominant strain circulating in the United States, making up roughly 40% of all new Covid cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That’s followed by XBB.1.16 (dubbed “Arcturus” on social media) and XBB.1.9.1, which make up about 18% and 12% of all new cases, respectively.
The XBB strains haven’t caused a surge in cases as much as previous variants.Â
In the documents, FDA scientists said real-world studies show that although the current updated boosters in use in the U.S. do provide protection against XBB.1.5, the antibodies generated appear to be lower than what’s seen against BA.4 and BA.5.
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