"Food and Drug Administration advisers on Thursday will vote on whether the next round of COVID-19 shots should target XBB, a subvariant of omicron that’s driving the majority of new infections in the U.S.
"Why it matters: The FDA is on a tight deadline to make a decision so drugmakers can manufacture the new vaccines in time for the fall and winter, even as polls show most Americans have put the pandemic behind them.
"Yes, but: The discussion is underway at a time when the majority of Americans view the pandemic as over and don't believe COVID infections pose a major risk to their health.
*Most are never masking in public, and less than 1 in 5 people in the U.S. have received an updated booster, per CDC data updated in May.
*That means it’s unclear how much chasing new variants will benefit a population that might not think they need another shot, especially as vaccine costs shift to the private sector.
"Between the lines: The end of the COVID public health emergency has also cut off a thoroughfare of data that once gave insights into how the virus was spreading, which means it’s difficult to gauge the accuracy of the downward trend in cases, hospitalizations and deaths."
But tell me, how can we target the strain properly if selfish, ignorant Americans
refuse to get vaccinated, won't wear a mask, no longer socially
distance, and think the pandemic is over? Our government is doing a
lousy job in promoting COVID vaccines and masks, and the data we need may just as well be nonexistent.
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