US government advisers have recommended changing the design of Covid-19 vaccines to target the Omicron variant for a booster campaign aimed at blunting an expected surge in infections in the autumn.
Scientists on a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee on Tuesday voted 19 to two in favour of incorporating genetic material from the fast-spreading Omicron variant into a new generation of booster jabs.
The recommendation, if approved by US authorities, paves the way for Moderna and Pfizer to switch manufacturing operations over to making vaccines that experts believe will provide better protection against the most widely circulating Covid variants.