FDA proposes COVID vaccine to be administered yearly

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed to simplify the vaccination schedule against COVID-19 and to make the doses annual, as is the case for the common flu.

In a series of documents published on its website on Monday, the U.S. regulator said that most of the population may only need an annual dose to protect them from the disease, regardless of the doses they have previously received.

The FDA notes that young people who have not been exposed to COVID, the elderly or the immunocompromised may need two annual doses.

The agency's idea would be to evaluate potential new variants of the virus that are circulating during the year and choose one that it believes will be prevalent in the following fall to develop the vaccine, as is usually done for influenza.

The FDA's Vaccines and Biologics Advisory Committee, an independent body made up of scientists, is expected to evaluate the future of the COVID vaccine in the U.S. on Thursday and vote on whether or not to support the regulator's recommendations.