US clears updated COVID boosters targeting newest variants

WASHINGTON — The U.S. on Wednesday authorized its first update to COVID-19 vaccines, booster doses that target today’s most common omicron strain. Even people who had an earlier omicron version still can get reinfected so “you should definitely go for the booster even if you’ve been infected in the last year,” added Pekosz. Pfizer and Moderna have previously brewed vaccine doses updated to match earlier mutants — including the omicron strain named BA.1 that struck last winter — and tested them in people. It’s the first U.S. update to the COVID-19 vaccine recipe, an important but expected next step -- like how flu vaccines get updated every year.