TAMPA, Fla. — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering a major shift to how COVID-19 vaccines are administered.

Under the proposed plan, COVID-19 booster shots would resemble the same process as the annual flu shot and be given out once a year.

What You Need To Know

  •  FDA is considering making COVID shots follow a similar schedule to annual flu vaccine

  •  Shots would all have to target same strains

  •  80% of Americans got initial vaccine, only 16% most recent booster

In order to make that change, an FDA panel would have to vote on whether to make future vaccines all target the same strain. By doing that, the shots would be interchangeable and no longer require a primary vaccination followed by booster shots.

The new proposal states that the FDA along with experts and drug manufacturers would decide in the summer which strains they will target and release the updated shots in the fall. The process is similar to how yearly flu shots are created and distributed.

“It’s a model that has worked in the past for flu,” said Dr. Michael Teng, professor of Molecular Medicine at the University of South Florida. “The flu vaccine uptake is a little less than the FDA wants it but I think if they can get the COVID vaccines out in the flu model it’s going to be a good thing.” 

During a meeting set for Thursday, the FDA will ask outside experts to weigh in on the plan. They will then take that advice into consideration before launching any formal changes.