nearly all COVID-19 infections in the U.S. and much of the world. Authorities are taking a gamble that the strain, or something similar, will still be the biggest threat in the coming months and, to get ahead of another mutation possibly transpiring, have fast-tracked approval of a targeted booster.
In June, the FDA ordered vaccine makers to tweak their shots to target BA.4 and BA.5, becoming the so-called ‘combo shot.’Current COVID-19 vaccines match the strain that circulated in early 2020.
And while those vaccinations still offer strong protection against serious illness or death, there’s little effectiveness against infection from the wildly mutated omicron family.To approve the combo shot, FDA has relied heavily on scientific testing of prior vaccine tweaks rather than on a human study of the BA.5-tweak’s effectiveness, which could take months.
A wait that long heightens the risk that another mutation could take over. This means authorities are taking a gamble on how effective the combo shot will be.Think of the combination shot as a second-generation vaccine.