U.S. Proposes to Make COVID Shot Annual, Much Like Flu Shot

By Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Jan. 23, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday asked its vaccine advisory panel to weigh a proposal to turn COVID vaccines into an annual shot for most Americans.

The committee will weigh the proposal at its Jan. 26 meeting.

Such a move would simplify future vaccination efforts, a critical point given the fact that efforts to get people to get COVID booster shots have fallen far short of expectations. While over 80% of Americans have had at least one dose of the original COVID-19 vaccine, only 16% of those over the age of 5 have gotten the updated booster shots that were approved last August, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

If the advisory committee recommends the proposal be turned into policy and the agency follows its panel's recommendations, COVID shots would likely become much like annual flu shots.

In documents filed with the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, the FDA noted that "the totality of the available evidence on prior exposure to and vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 suggests that, moving forward, most individuals may only need to receive one dose of an approved or authorized COVID-19 vaccine to restore protective immunity for a period of time."