As COVID-19 continues to evolve, the Food and Drug Administration is proposing plans to roll out an updated vaccine every year going forward.
The agency is suggesting experts select a specific strain of the virus each spring and introduce the vaccine to the market by September — similar to annual flu shots.
The FDA will also recommend that most people get just a single yearly jab, though older adults, immunocompromised people, and very young children may still need two doses.
The agency will request input from a panel of vaccine experts on Thursday, but the plan aligns with the recommendations the Biden administration announced last year. In September, Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that annual shots could save thousands of lives.
"Modeling projections show that an uptake of updated COVID-19 vaccine doses similar to an annual flu vaccine coverage early this fall could prevent as many as 100,000 hospitalizations, 9,000 deaths, and save billions of dollars in direct medical costs," she said.
However, reception to booster shots has been cool. Though four out of five Americans have received at least one dose, only 16 percent of those eligible have gotten the latest booster, which was released in August.
So far, there have been more than 100 million confirmed cases and greater than one million COVID-19-related deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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Cheddar News checks in with a coast-to-coast forecast of the weather for Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023 and the latest on Hurricane Idalia.
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Here is the national weather forecast for Tuesday, August 29, 2023.
A medical rescue helicopter caught fire and broke apart shortly after takeoff Monday before crashing into an apartment complex near Fort Lauderdale, killing a paramedic captain on board and a resident on the ground, authorities said.
Florida residents loaded up on sandbags and evacuated from homes in low-lying areas along the Gulf Coast as Tropical Storm Idalia intensified Monday and forecasters predicted it would hit in days as a major hurricane with potentially life-threatening storm surges.
Cheddar News checks in with a coast-to-coast forecast of the weather for Monday, Aug. 28, 2023.
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