OFFICIALS PLAN TO ROLL OUT AN UPDATED VACCINATION THIS FALL
Federal regulators will review a new Covid19 vaccine in July. Companies will start rolling out the updated batch this fall and winter.
Dr. Peter Marks, Food and Drug Administration vaccine chief, has stated that FDA will most likely announce the decision after the meeting of its advisory community on June 28. The decision of the new design will be approved after reviewing the data provided by the vaccine companies about the next-generation versions of vaccines that they are testing.
FDA will then permit the rollout of the new versions after determining which type of vaccines will give complete protection in case of new variants during fall and winter.
“We’ll have to make some decision by early July to make sure that the manufacturers know what we’re looking to do so that they know what they have to start producing in large quantities,” Marks, who serves as director of the department that oversees vaccines within the FDA, stated.
According to the FDA, there is a need for such a vaccine that offers maximum protection for the most prolonged duration without booster shots and fights the new surge expected in the colder months.
The question of the next-generation vaccine being available for all age groups concerns the people. But, Marks expects it to be accessible and eligible for every age bracket around the same time.
FDA also hopes to bring both vaccine companies, Pfizer and Moderna, on the same page to produce vaccines to fight the new strain.
“People are very confused about everything, to have different compositions for different vaccines will get things even more confusing,” Marks said.
The experts doubt that the updated versions of vaccines will last an entire year, but they expect them to be more effective as they will offer protection from other new variants.
Dr. Paul Goepfert, director of the Alabama Vaccine Research Clinic, oversees research on the new vaccines as part of the National Institute of Health study.
The funding of the next-generation vaccines remains a daunting concern for everyone. However, Congress still has not made a deal with the White House for COVID funding which has put a question mark on the availability of the updated vaccine for everyone. But Marks has reassured us that the country will be able to purchase the new vaccine and make it available for all ages.
