FDA officials say annual Covid-19 shots may be needed in the future

FDA officials say annual Covid-19 shots may be needed in the future The United States might need to update its Covid-19 vaccines each year, according to a trio of top US Food and Drug Administration officials, and "a new normal" may include an annual Covid-19 vaccine alongside a seasonal flu shot. Jacqueline Howard, CNN CNN

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"Widespread vaccine- and infection-induced immunity, combined with the availability of effective therapeutics, could blunt the effects of future outbreaks. Nonetheless, it is time to accept that the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is the new normal. It will likely circulate globally for the foreseeable future, taking its place alongside other common respiratory viruses such as influenza.

And it likely will require similar annual consideration for vaccine composition updates," Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research; Principal Deputy Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock; and new FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf wrote in a paper published in the medical journal JAMA on Monday.

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