The Biden administration will begin offering updated COVID booster shots in September, Axios confirmed on Thursday.
Why it matters: Though efficacy data is so far limited, the updated boosters are expected to serve stronger protection against the new Omicron subvariant BA.5 —the most transmissible subvariant yet. It has quickly overtaken previous strains to become the dominant version in the U.S. and much of the world.
- This means federal officials will not expand eligibility for second booster shots of existing vaccines.
The big picture: At the moment, only people age 50 and older and those over 12 who are immunocompromised are eligible for a second booster.
- Both Pfizer and Moderna have told the Food and Drug Administration that they are prepared to deliver millions of doses of reformulated vaccines by mid-September, the New York Times reports.
