FDA advisers vote to simplify COVID vaccines, retire original "monovalent" shots

Key Facts

• U.S. Updated on: January 26, 2023 / 7:17 PM / CBS News Future plans for COVID-19 vaccines FDA advisory panel considers simplifying COVID-19 vaccination schedule 05:05 A panel of the Food and Drug Administration's outside vaccine advisers voted unanimously Thursday in favor of "harmonizing" the initial shots given to unvaccinated Americans with the updated booster shots rolled out last year, in a bid to simplify COVID-19 vaccines.
• And I know how we ended up this way, but I think this is a good decision to make and I'm supportive of it," said the CDC's Dr. Melinda Wharton, a member of the panel.
• "This is a consequential meeting to determine if we've reached a point in the pandemic that allows for simplifying the use of current COVID-19 vaccines, and if it is the moment to implement a more routine approach to periodically updating the strain composition," Dr. David Kaslow, director of the FDA's Office of Vaccines Research and Review, told the panel.
• The timing could also be out of sync with the World Health Organization, which has yet to set a schedule for how its committee might try and issue coordinated vaccine recommendations.

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