The Food and Drug Administration authorized the first updated COVID-19 vaccines since the pandemic began — boosters targeted at the omicron variant.
The Food and Drug Administration today authorized the first updated COVID-19 boosters since the pandemic began. NPR health correspondent Rob Stein is with us with some details. Hi, Rob.SHAPIRO: So what are these new boosters, and how have they been updated?
PETER MARKS: If I had to say what keeps me up at night most in this pandemic, it's that we have seen lots of twists and turns that were hard to predict. So it's the unknown unknowns that really are concerning. By doing this, we've tried to mitigate against that.STEIN: You know, Ari, that's the big question. And unfortunately, no one really knows for sure.
STEIN: You know, no one's worried about safety. It's clear the vaccines are very safe. But critics say mouse studies just aren't very good at predicting how vaccines work in people. And earlier vaccines - the tests on those earlier vaccines indicate they're only a bit better than the original shots at best. And so the worry is people will think these new shots protect them more than they really do. Here's John Moore. He's an immunologist at Weill Cornell Medicine.
STEIN: And Moore and others also worry that the fact that the vaccines were only tested in mice might make it even harder to convince people to get them. It's been a tough sell already, convincing people to get their first or second boosters, and there's still plenty of people out there who haven't gotten any shots. And that's the main reason between four and five hundred people are still dying every day from COVID.