FDA VRBPAC Discussion Topics Today

The FDA VRBPAC 178th annual meeting on future Covid-19 vaccine regimens includes two main discussion topics:

“Future periodic vaccination campaigns:
Simplification of COVID-19 vaccine use:

• Immunization schedule: Please discuss and provide input on simplifying
  the immunization schedule to authorize or approve a two-dose series in
  certain young children, and in older adults and persons with compromised
  immunity, and only one dose in all other individuals.
  Periodic update to COVID-19 vaccines:
• Vaccine composition: Please discuss and provide input on the
  consideration of periodic updates to COVID-19 vaccine composition,
  including to the currently authorized or approved vaccines to be available
  for use in the U.S. in the fall of 2023.”

Among the members attending the web conference is University of Iowa Professor Stanley Perlman, MD, PhD, Departments of Microbiology and
Immunology, Professor of Pediatrics, Mark Stinski Chair in Virology.

The meeting is today from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM ET.

Update: Dr. Stanley Perlman MD, PhD from the University of Iowa will be the acting voting chairman of today’s meeting.

Update: Dr. Jerry Weir gave a clarifying and practical bird’s eye view of the issue at hand which began at 2:30 PM on the live play today (the meeting is being recorded). The questions and comments for Dr. Weir by Offit, Levy, and Chatterjee were also helpful to hear.

Update: Voting Question is:

“VRBPAC Voting question
Simplification of current COVID-19 vaccine use:

• Vaccine composition: Does the committee recommend harmonizing the
  vaccine strain composition of primary series and booster doses in the U.S.
  to a single composition, e.g., the composition for all vaccines administered
  currently would be a bivalent vaccine (Original plus Omicron BA.4/BA.5)?”

Voting Result: Unanimously upvoted.