Three weeks after Pfizer and Moderna's updated boosters were authorized, about 4.4 million people have been jabbed with the omicron-targeted vaccines, according to CDC data updated Sept. 22.
After the FDA instructed vaccine-makers to update their formulas in late June — when omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 were dominant — pharmaceutical companies raced to adjust their original doses and prove its effectiveness. In about two months and without large scale clinical trials, Pfizer and Moderna both gained emergency use authorization.
The current uptake of the bivalent boosters, which are part original vaccine and part omicron strain, could be lessened by Moderna's current hiccup in supply, which the company expects to resolve in a few days. Inoculation rates have decreased with every new iteration of a COVID-19 vaccine, meaning the rollout of omicron-updated vaccines could likely be slow. This could hinder the federal government's plan for COVID-19 vaccines to be provided annually.