FDA panel recommends updating the Covid vaccines for the fall to target JN.1 strain

Although Covid cases remain low in the U.S., vaccine experts are already looking toward the winter, with eyes on preventing a seasonal surge.

Although Covid cases remain low in the U.S., vaccine experts are already looking toward the winter, with eyes on preventing a seasonal surge.

A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel on Wednesday unanimously recommended that the Covid vaccines for the fall be updated to target the highly contagious JN.1 variant or one of its descendants.

JN.1 emerged in the U.S. in late August and by January became the dominant strain in circulation.

Various offshoots of JN.1 soon followed, including the so-called FLiRT variants, KP.1.1 and KP.2. In mid-May, KP.2 overtook JN.1 as the dominant strain in the U.S., and it now accounts for over 1 in 4 new cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Natalie Thornburg, a research microbiologist at the CDC, said at Wednesday’s meeting that the coronavirus appears to be adopting a consistent pattern: a dominant “parent” strain takes hold in early winter, and by spring, a handful of descendants emerge. That’s also what happened with the XBB strain last year, she said, which dominated in the winter but gave rise to offshoots in the spring.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/will-new-covid-vaccine-fall-rcna155571

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