COVID Omicron Boosters Authorized By FDA: What NJ Should Know

NEW JERSEY — The nation's first variant-specific COVID-19 vaccines came one step close to public availability. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorizations Wednesday for booster shots that target omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.

The move means updated booster doses could be available within days. The new booster dose will tweak the existing vaccine produced by Pfizer and Moderna to target two of the most prevalent COVID strains in the United States. BA.5 alone accounted for 88.7 percent of the nation's new cases for the week ending Saturday and has been the most common COVID strain in the U.S. since late June, according to the CDC's estimates.

The new shots are known as "bivalent" vaccines, since they're designed to protect against the original virus and the omicron strains. Officials hope the updated boosters will help curb another winter surge.

Before the booster doses can be available to the public, the CDC must recommend who should get the additional shot. An advisory panel is expected to review the evidence and make a decision Thursday, according to The Associated Press.

Here's info on current vaccine and booster eligibility.

If the FDA's decision stands, people 12 and older will become eligible for the new Pfizer booster, while those 18 and older could receive the updated Moderna shot. Patients can receive either of the bivalent boosters at least two months after they've completed their primary vaccination series or received their most recent booster.

The FDA planned for the possibility that vaccine makers would need to modify their original shots to address circulating variants — much like flu vaccines. The composition of flu vaccines changes each year since the virus constantly changes.

"The FDA has extensive experience with strain changes for annual influenza vaccines," said Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. "We are confident in the evidence supporting these authorizations."

The Biden administration obtained 105 million doses of Pfizer's new boosters and 66 million doses of the updated Moderna shots in late June for the nation's fall vaccination campaign.

The original omicron wave brought New Jersey record-breaking case totals and a near-record number of COVID hospitalizations. The state peaked at 33,459 infections Jan. 7 — New Jersey never reported a daily five-digit case total before the omicron wave, according to the New Jersey Department of Health.

New Jersey reached 6,089 COVID hospitalizations on Jan. 11 — the state's highest figure since April 2020, according to the state health department.

Currently, 77.1 percent of New Jerseyans have completed the primary COVID-vaccination course, while 49.8 percent of that population has received a booster, according to CDC data.