FDA Weighs Authorization , of Second Round of , COVID Boosters for Some People.<br />The United States Food and Drug <br />Administration (FDA) is planning an annual <br />COVID booster campaign starting this fall.<br />NPR reports that the new round of boosters <br />will be updated to combat whatever variant is <br />expected to circulate in the following winter.<br />Currently, the FDA has only authorized <br />one booster of the latest bivalent vaccines. .<br />However, NPR reports that the FDA is reconsidering <br />its stance and weighing the authorization of <br />a second bivalent booster for some people.<br />According to an anonymous federal official, those being <br />considered for a second booster include people with <br />compromised immune systems or who are 65 and older.<br />Those doses are going to be expiring <br />and will be thrown out. So it makes sense <br />to have those shots in arms instead <br />of being tossed in the waste basket, Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, via NPR.<br />Historically, when you look at the monovalent <br />vaccines, the protection starts to wane <br />after four or five months. We don't know <br />if that's the case with bivalent booster. <br />But you don't want to find out the hard way, Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, via NPR.<br />Historically, when you look at the monovalent <br />vaccines, the protection starts to wane <br />after four or five months. We don't know <br />if that's the case with bivalent booster. <br />But you don't want to find out the hard way, Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, via NPR.<br />NPR reports that opponents of the second round <br />of boosters say there is not enough evidence to <br />show that protection has significantly faded.<br />I have no data to show me that <br />a second bivalent is safe and effective. <br />I have every reason to think it might be. <br />But I don't actually have data, Dr. Gregory Poland, director of the Mayo<br />Clinic's Vaccine Research Group, via NPR.<br />I have no data to show me that <br />a second bivalent is safe and effective. <br />I have every reason to think it might be. <br />But I don't actually have data, Dr. Gregory Poland, director of the Mayo<br />Clinic's Vaccine Research Group, via NPR.<br />NPR reports that there is also a chance that the shots <br />could have an opposite effect, as the bivalent boosters <br />target an old strain that has since been replaced.
