A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory committee will meet Wednesday to recommend a COVID-19 vaccine for the 2024-25 respiratory virus season.
The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, which evaluates and recommends vaccine formulas with the highest likelihood of fighting future viruses, will weigh recommendations on a vaccine formula that targets the JN.1 variant of the COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2 virus, or recommend a new booster formula for JN.1’s emerging subvariant, KP.2, which became the the predominant source of infection in the U.S. in last month, according to a release from the University of Michigan.
The JN.1 variant was the predominant cause of infection worldwide, according to the World Health Organization report in April. WHO reported the risk posed by JN.1 variant was “still evaluated as low at the global level.”
The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory panel also will consider suggestions on a new booster formula that combats JN.1’s emerging subvariant, KP.2, which became the the predominant source of infection in the United States in last month, University of Michigan officials said in a news release Tuesday.
KP.2, an derivative of the Omicron variant, accounted for an estimated 28.5% of COVID cases across the U.S. in late May, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while JN.1 was cited at 8.4%.
“The advisory committee’s recommendations are nonbinding for the FDA, which generally follows the recommendations but is not bound to do so,” UM said.
The meeting, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., can be live-streamed here.
Arnold Monto, professor emeritus of epidemiology and global public health at UM’s School of Public Health and co-director of the Michigan Center for Respiratory Virus Research and Response, is acting chair of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee.
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