Novavax Inc said it expects to provide a COVID-19 vaccine targeting Omicron in the fourth quarter as it accelerates development of shots to protect against the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants.
The fast-spreading BA.4 and BA.5 sub-lineages of Omicron are estimated to make up a combined 70.1% of the coronavirus variants in the United States as of July 2, the CDC said Tuesday.
The FDA s advisers on vaccines deliberated Tuesday on what direction the agency should give drugmakers about future modifications to their COVID shots to address changes in the virus.
Pfizer studied two potential vaccines: a monovalent shot that targets only Omicron, and a bivalent combination booster that adds Omicron to the original vaccine.