FDA expected to authorize new omicron-specific COVID boosters this week
The Food and Drug Administration is planning to authorize a new generation of COVID-19 boosters this week that for the first time will target the omicron variant.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week is expected to authorize the first updated versions of the COVID-19 boosters since the pandemic began.
The new shots are reformulated versions of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. They're known as "bivalent" vaccines because they are designed to protect against the original strain and the highly contagious omicron variant.
Specifically, the vaccines are programmed to target the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron subvariants, which are the dominant strains infecting people and the most adept at sneaking around the immune system.
