The first new COVID-19 vaccines updated for this fall season are now expected to be available by the end of September, once both the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sign off on the new shots.
The new shots are designed to target the XBB variants — strains of the virus descended from the original Omicron variant — which are now the most common form in circulation.
Three vaccine manufacturers – Moderna, Pfizer and Novavax – are expected to offer the revised shots for this fall, which virtually all children and adults will be eligible for.
The rollout of the shots will also mark three major shifts in the U.S. response to the virus: the end of government-bought vaccine supplies, a simplification of who is eligible to get shots, and a significant change to the recipe used in the vaccines.
What’s Different in New Vaccines?
The FDA has asked vaccine makers to switch to using only a single component in their recipes targeted at the XBB.1.5 variant, in hopes of broadening immunity.
This is a change from the “bivalent” composition used in the last round of boosters, which blended two components: one aimed at boosting immunity against the original strain of the virus and another aimed at the Omicron BA.4/5 strain.
CDC says COVID the XBB Variant EG.5 is now dominant, including strain some call “Eris.”
When will new COVID-19 vaccines be available?
While the new vaccines are expected to be ready by late September, it could be October before they’re widely available for everyone who wants them.