The Food and Drug Administration has authorized updated COVID-19 booster vaccines for emergency use, hoping the reformulated shots from partners Pfizer and BioNTech and Moderna can curb an expected wave of new infections this winter.
The FDA on Wednesday cleared a new version of Pfizer’s vaccine for adults and children over 12 years old and Moderna’s modified shot for adults who are 18 or older. Both are two-pronged, or “bivalent,” vaccines that target the original form of the coronavirus as well as substrains of the omicron variant that are currently prevalent in the U.S. They’re meant for use at least two months after a primary vaccination series or a prior booster shot.
