By Lisa Riley Roche

SALT LAKE CITY — Many Americans may soon be due for a dose of COVID-19 vaccine only once a year, just like an annual flu shot, under a federal Food and Drug Administration plan to simplify immunizations.

Streamlining the schedule is set to be discussed by an FDA advisory panel Thursday, along with whether the country should transition to a single vaccine for both the initial and booster doses that's updated periodically to target the latest strains of the virus.

Currently, the initial series of COVID-19 shots is based only on the original strain of the virus, while the most recent booster shot is an updated bivalent vaccine that also contains newer versions of the omicron variant but not the latest mutations.

A document released Monday by the FDA declared "most individuals may only need to receive one dose of an approved or authorized COVID-19 vaccine to restore protective immunity for a period of time."

But two doses may be needed to offer enough protection against the virus for very young children who have not been exposed to COVID-19, as well as those with weaker immune responses, older and immunocompromised adults.

While there's been talk before about treating COVID-19 vaccinations more like annual flu shots, the FDA's move came as a surprise to some experts, including a few members of the agency's advisory panel, the New York Times reported.

'Something simpler'

Dr. Eric Rubin, one of the FDA's advisers and the editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, told the newspaper he'd like to see more data "to try to tell if we're doing the right thing."

Rubin also added he'd "definitely be in favor of something simpler, as it would make it more likely that people might take it."

Han Kim, a professor of public health at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, said he doesn't see a lot of downside to going along with the FDA plan even if all the needed data isn't available yet.

https://www.ksl.com/article/50564443/should-you-get-a-covid-19-shot-once-a-year-heres-what-the-fda-says