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FDA panel debates COVID vaccine recipe as questions swirl about fall shots
WASHINGTON (AP) — Government advisers are meeting Thursday to decide if COVID-19 vaccines need updating to improve protection this fall and winter — even as a new Trump administration policy has throw...
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Government advisers are meeting Thursday to decide if COVID-19 vaccines need updating to improve protection this fall and winter — even as a new Trump administration policy has thrown into question who may be eligible for a shot.
The Food and Drug Administration’s outside experts have met regularly since the launch of the first COVID-19 vaccines to discuss tweaking their recipes to stay ahead of the virus. Thursday’s meeting is the group’s first since President Donald Trump took office.
But it comes just two days after FDA leaders upended the prior U.S. policy of recommending annual COVID-19 boosters for all Americans ages 6 months and older.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Marty Makary speaks during a news conference on the FDA's intent to phase out the use of petroleum-based synthetic dyes in the nation's food supply at the Hubert Humphrey Building Auditorium in Washington, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)Instead, the FDA said routine approval of COVID-19 boosters will be limited to seniors and to younger people who are at high risk of severe infection. Manufacturers will need to do new studies to show whether seasonal shots still benefit healthy people younger than 65.
That raises big implications for next fall’s vaccination campaign, with uncertainty over whether healthy people still could get a vaccine even if it’s not recommended for them — or whether insurers will keep paying for the shots for everyone. Nor is it clear what the policy means for babies who have never been vaccinated.
“This is a mess,” said Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota infectious disease expert. “The one thing we don’t want to do is put a barrier in place that prevents parents from getting their children vaccinated if they want to.”
FDA’s independent advisers may raise those issues Thursday, but the changes are not the focus of the meeting, which was scheduled before FDA’s announcement.
Instead, the panel is set to recommend whether the virus has mutated enough to warrant strain updates for shots from Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax.
“We are asking for guidance to help the FDA decide what strain to select for COVID-19 vaccines going forward,” FDA vaccine chief Dr. Vinay Prasad said in comments opening the meeting. Prasad added that the agency wants “to give people a little more time to digest,” the new policy on vaccines and is open to feedback.
Last fall’s recipe was tailored to omicron descendants on the JN.1 branch of the virus family tree. Novavax brewed shots targeting the parent JN.1 variant while Pfizer and Moderna opted for a subtype called KP.2.
That JN.1 family still dominates, although it continues to evolve. The question is whether last fall’s shots still offer enough cross-protection or if manufacturers instead should match today’s most common subtype, called LP.8.1.
The World Health Organization recently said last year’s version was OK but that vaccine makers could choose an update. The European Medicines Agency instead recommended targeting the newest subtype.
FDA officials didn’t express a preference in documents posted online ahead of Thursday’s meeting. suggested earlier in the week that the government should move away from yearly updates.
“Instead of having a COVID-19 strategy that’s year-to-year where we change things every single year, why don’t we let the science tell us when to change?” Prasad said.
Debating that science is what the FDA’s vaccine advisers do each year. If they recommend leaving the shots unchanged — and the FDA agrees — it’s possible that healthy adults and children may still get access to a fall booster, since this week’s policy changes suggest new studies would be required only if manufacturers switch strains or introduce a completely new vaccine. Those would be large, six-month studies, and vaccine experts question if their cost and logistics could make them unfeasible.
Still, the FDA’s strain decision normally isn’t the final word on recommendations about who should be vaccinated.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s own advisory panel meets in June to make recommendations about the fall shots. Among its options are keeping universal access or recommending vaccination for high-risk groups but still giving lower-risk people the choice in getting a shot.
Prasad and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary were both outspoken critics of the government’s handling of COVID-19 shots during the pandemic, particularly the recommendation for use in young, healthy adults and children. Before joining government, they each garnered attention from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who built a national following by casting doubt on the safety and benefits of vaccines.
In a medical journal editorial outlining the FDA’s new approach, they criticized the U.S.’s “one-size-fits-all” approach, saying it has long been out of step with Europe and other places with more limited recommendations for boosters.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
 — A look at some of the top men at the French Open, which starts at Roland-Garros on Sunday, with money-line odds via BetMGM Sportsbook:
Jannik Sinner
Seeding: 1
Career-Best Ranking: 1
Country: Italy
Age: 23
2025 Record: 12-1
2025 Titles: 1
Career Titles: 19
Grand Slam Titles: 3 — Australian Open (2: 2024, 2025), U.S. Open (1: 2024)
Last 5 French Opens: 2024-Lost in Semifinals, 2023-2nd Round, 2022-4th, 2021-4th, 2020-QF
Aces: Returned at the Italian Open from a three-month doping ban he agreed to after the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed his exoneration in the case. ... Reached the Rome final but 26-match winning streak dating to last season ended with loss to Carlos Alcaraz. ... Won his second consecutive Australian Open in January. ... Lost to Alcaraz in five sets in last year's semifinals in Paris.
He Said It: “I’m 23 years old, and I am not perfect. I know that I have things still to improve. I have certain areas where I can get better. That’s why we work.”
Read All About It: Jannik Sinner's playing style draws comparisons to Novak Djokovic
Odds Are: +190
Carlos Alcaraz
Seeding: 2
Career-Best Ranking: 1
Country: Spain
Age: 22
2025 Record: 30-5
2025 Titles: 3
Career Titles: 19
Grand Slam Titles: 4 — French Open (1: 2024), Wimbledon (2: 2023, 2024), U.S. Open (1: 2022)
Last 5 French Opens: 2024-Won Championship, 2023-SF, 2022-QF, 2021-3rd, 2020-Did Not Play
Aces: His title at Roland-Garros a year ago made him, at 21, the youngest man in tennis history to win at least one major championship on three surfaces. ... 4-0 in Grand Slam finals. ... Got an Olympic silver medal after losing the final to Novak Djokovic in Paris. ... Missed the Madrid Open with problems in both legs but then won the Italian Open, beating Sinner for the title. ... Tweaked his service motion in the offseason to try to get more precision and a consistent rhythm.
He Said It: When you feel like you can’t miss, you can do whatever you should do, everything is going to be in — that’s the most satisfaction … that I feel on court. You hit great shots, running forehand, drop shots, volley, serve and volley. Everything that you want to do, you feel like it’s going to be right.
Read All About It: Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have a real rivalry atop men's tennis
Odds Are: +105
Alexander Zverev
Seeding: 3
Career-Best Ranking: 2
Country: Germany
Age: 28
2025 Record: 24-9 (Entering the German Open)
2025 Titles: 1
Career Titles: 24
Grand Slam Titles: Zero — Best: Runner-Up, French Open (2024), Australian Open (2025), U.S. Open (2020)
Last 5 French Opens: 2024-Runner-Up, 2023-SF, 2022-SF, 2021-SF, 2020-4th
Aces: Now 0-3 in major finals, losing to Dominic Thiem at the U.S. Open — after leading 2-0 in sets — to Alcaraz at the French Open — after leading 2-1 in sets — and to Sinner at the Australian Open. ... Had a chance to move up to No. 1 while Sinner was serving his suspension, but Zverev kept losing early in tournaments, going 6-6 in one stretch.
He Said It: “I don’t want to end my career as the best player of all time to never win a Grand Slam, that’s for sure. I’ll keep doing everything I can to lift one of those trophies.”
Read All About It: Zverev falls to 0-3 in Slam finals with loss to Sinner in Melbourne
Odds Are: +1600
Jack Draper
Seeding: 5
Career-Best Ranking: 5
Country: Britain
Age: 23
2025 Record: 22-6
2025 Titles: 1
Career Titles: 3
Grand Slam Titles: Zero — Best: Semifinals, U.S. Open (2024)
Last 5 French Opens: 2024-1st, 2023-1st, 2022-DNP, 2021-DNP, 2020-DNP
Aces: Enjoying a real breakthrough season, including a Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells and a run to a Masters 1000 final on red clay at Madrid, along with a rise into the top 10. ... Only the second left-hander — Rafael Nadal is the other, of course — to reach the top five since 2000. ... Fitness issues from early in his career seem to be behind him. ... Never won a French Open match.
He Said It: “I feel like I’ve been sort of building towards this. And so I feel like I've been improving a long time.”
Read All About It: Jack Draper beats Holger Rune in the Indian Wells final
Odds Are: +3300
Novak Djokovic
Seeding: 6
Career-Best Ranking: 1
Country: Serbia
Age: 38
2025 Record: 12-7 (entering Geneva Open)
2025 Titles: Zero
Career Titles: 99
Grand Slam Titles: 24 — French Open (3: 2016, 2021, 2023), Australian Open (10: 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023), Wimbledon (7: 2011, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022), U.S. Open (4: 2011, 2015, 2018, 2023)
Last 5 French Opens: 2024-QF, 2023-Q, 2022-QF, 2021-W, 2020-RU
Aces: Recently split from coach Andy Murray. ... After stopping at the Australian Open with a hamstring injury, resumes his bid to become the first player with 25 Grand Slam singles trophies. ... 2024 was his first season without at least one Slam trophy since 2017. ... Won an Olympic gold medal for Serbia last year in Paris. ... Pulled out of the French Open midway through the event after tearing his right knee's meniscus. ... Ended a three-match losing streak this week.
He Said It: “It’s not like I’m worrying approaching every Grand Slam now whether I’m going to get injured or not, but statistics are against me, in a way, in the last couple of years.”
Read All About It: Djokovic strives to get another major championship after his latest injury
Odds Are: +1200
Casper Ruud
Seeding: 7
Career-Best Ranking: 2
Country: Norway
Age: 26
2025 Record: 24-7 (entering Geneva Open)
2025 Titles: 1
Career Titles: 13
Grand Slam Titles: Zero — Best: Runner-Up, French Open (2: 2022, 2023), U.S. Open (1: 2022)
Last 5 French Opens: 2024-SF, 2023-RU, 2022-RU, 2021-3rd, 2020-3rd
Aces: Earned his first Masters 1000 title on Madrid’s clay for his biggest trophy. He had been 0-6 in title matches at Grand Slam tournaments, Masters and the ATP Finals. ... Made it to at least the semifinals in Paris each of the past three years, including runner-up finishes against Nadal and Djokovic.
He Said It: “In many ways, my career has gone better than maybe I thought was possible sometimes.”
Read All About It: Casper Ruud had Slam chances against Carlos Alcaraz in the 2022 U.S. Open final
Odds Are: +2800
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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich %23genevaopen)
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