The FDA will no longer recommend yearly COVID-19 vaccines for the general population, focusing instead on high-risk groups like seniors and those with underlying health conditions. Dr. Vinay Prasad and Dr. Martin Makary, writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, emphasized the need for more studies to evaluate the benefits of annual shots among lower-risk individuals. They aim to gather evidence on whether regular vaccinations significantly reduce COVID-19 symptoms and hospitalizations in this population, while still recommending annual shots for those at elevated risk.
"We simply don't know whether a healthy 52-year old woman with a normal BMI who has had COVID-19 three times and has received six previous doses of a COVID-19 vaccine will benefit from the seventh dose," Prasad and Makary write in the editorial.
This policy will compel much-needed evidence generation. The new FDA leadership emphasizes evaluation of vaccine necessity for lower-risk populations.
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