The FDA says current Covid vaccines may need to be revised this winter – and updated every year – to keep pace with evolving strains

Top health officials in the US are making plans to roll out a new, updated Covid vaccine this winter.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Monday that it will hold a public meeting in May to discuss whether updates to the current vaccine crop are needed — and which variant should be included in next winter’s doses.

Currently the most common strain is JN.1, which is not targeted by the previous booster inoculated against XBB.1.5 – although there is still some crossover protection.

The agency said: “The FDA anticipates that changes to vaccine composition may need to be made based on currently circulating strains of the (Covid) virus.”

Officials believe the Covid vaccine should be updated every year, just like flu shots, to strengthen protection against emerging variants.

The currently dominant variant is JN.1, which is behind almost all cases (it is shown as the purple area in the pie charts for each region of the US)

It is likely that the shot will be recommended for every American over the age of six months, despite many experts claiming it is only necessary for people age 75 and older or those with underlying conditions.

It comes amid rising vaccine skepticism in the US.

Data shows that only 40 percent of people aged 75 and over – who are most at risk from the virus – received the updated vaccinations last year. Only 20 percent of young people over the age of 18 registered for the new Covid vaccine.

The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) – a 16-member committee that decides vaccine composition – will hold the meeting.

The agency added: ‘Barring any new major changes in the circulating virus, the FDA expects that the composition of Covid vaccines may need to be updated annually – as is happening for the seasonal flu vaccine.’

The committee is not expected to make a recommendation until June this year, after which vaccine companies such as Pfizer and Moderna will be asked to update their vaccinations.

They do this by switching the Covid spike protein – or virus protein used to enter cells – that their mRNA vaccines cause cells to build, thereby training the immune system to fight a new variant. recognize.

Like last year, the vaccines are not expected to be federally funded — but will instead fall under the private market.

It is not clear what level of efficacy against hospitalization the new vaccinations should show in trials, but for the flu vaccine – which is updated every year – this could be as low as 40 percent in some years.

The FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will then approve the new vaccinations – which will then likely be rolled out in September.

Officials expect to update Covid vaccines annually to match a new variant, in a similar way to how flu shots are updated.

The above graph shows the uptake of last year’s Covid booster by age group, with the over 75s, who are also most at risk, most likely to get the vaccinations

The same committee is also updating the flu shot and making its recommendation based on the flu strain that dominates in the Southern Hemisphere – where it is winter when the US has summer.

Vaccines reduce the risk of hospitalization or death from Covid by more than 90 percent, even though they may not prevent someone from developing an infection.

Immunity works against new Covid variants because of ‘cross-protection’ – where the immune system can still recognize other proteins on the new variant and launch a response.

The number of Covid cases in the US is currently falling, with the Covid test positivity rate – the percentage of tests that pick up the virus – now standing at 8.1 percent nationally over the past week, compared to 9.4 percent in the previous seven days.

The number of hospital admissions also shows a downward trend: 18,977 new admissions were registered last week, a decrease of 12 percent compared to the 20,100 seven days earlier. And the number of deaths is also decreasing.