FDA advisers back the same COVID vaccine for initial shots, boosters

Advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday unanimously voted in favor of targeting the same coronavirus strain for initial COVID-19 vaccine doses and boosters going forward, but some expressed skepticism about whether all Americans need to receive the shots annually.

The agency is trying to simplify its COVID-19 vaccine policy as it considers whether to recommend Americans get an annual booster shot for the virus. But several members of the expert advisory group asked for more robust data on benefits of annual shots for younger, healthier people.

"We're in a very different place. We have a lot of population immunity," said Hayley Gans, professor of pediatrics at Stanford University Medical Center. "Now that people are immune, how long does that last?"

Vaccine makers Pfizer Inc with partner BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc introduced late last year updated versions of their COVID vaccines tailored to target Omicron variants as well as the original coronavirus. In the United States, those were used only as booster shots.