Now and Later: Administration Struggles To Cement COVID Booster Strategy Amid Evolving Pandemic

US FDA was trying to focus people on a one-booster-per year, updated fall COVID vaccine campaign to address what they perceive as the public’s inoculation exhaustion, but as BA.5 seems to be sending the US into another surge the White House is pushing a summer booster campaign.  

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Boost now? Boost later? Boost now and later? US COVID booster strategy shifts with BA.5 surge • Source: Shutterstock

The BA.5 COVID-19 surge is set to collide with an under-immunized American population this summer, forcing the Biden administration to grapple with dueling realities: more Americans need added protection now to ensure the best possible health outcomes in this wave, but encouraging those shots might diminish appetite for more up-to-date vaccines that should be available this fall.

This spring FDA said their focus was to move away from pushing COVID boosters multiple times a year to reduce “vaccine exhaustion,” and keep the public engaged in vaccination campaigns....

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