FDA Proposes , Annual COVID Vaccination Plan.<br />ABC reports that health officials in <br />the United States want to make COVID-19 <br />vaccinations more like the annual flu shot.<br />On January 23, the Food and Drug Administration <br />proposed a new vaccination effort that would allow <br />most adults and children to get a once-a-year COVID shot.<br />ABC points out that this means people in the U.S. would <br />no longer have to keep track of how many shots <br />they've received or when they last got boosted.<br />According to ABC, the proposal comes as over 80% of <br />the U.S. population has received at least one dose of the <br />vaccine, while just 16% have received the latest booster.<br />On January 26, the FDA will refer <br />to a panel of outside vaccine experts <br />to weigh the new proposal.<br />According to FDA scientists, many Americans now <br />have “sufficient preexisting immunity” because of <br />vaccination, infection or a combination of the two. .<br />Scientists at the FDA and vaccine companies suggest <br />that further study could be done to decide who should <br />receive a single shot and who requires a two-dose series.<br />The FDA plan also includes streamlining the process <br />by switching all vaccines to target the same strains, <br />thus eliminating the current complicated system.<br />The proposal also includes a similar approach to the annual <br />flu shot by having the agency, independent experts and <br />manufacturers select which strains to target annually.<br />The FDA has expressed that the move to an annual <br />schedule would also help promote future vaccination <br />campaigns and boost nationwide vaccination rates
