The omicron-updated vaccines couldn't come at a worse time, Katherine Wu, PhD, a writer for The Atlantic, wrote in an Aug. 25 opinion piece.
Moderna and Pfizer have both submitted applications to the FDA to authorize their bivalent candidates for emergency use, which are part original formula and part omicron. If authorized by the FDA and CDC, the new boosters are planned to be ready after Labor Day weekend.
But with the already slow uptake of boosters and second boosters, the race for new formulas geared toward omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 could end in a crash, according Dr. Wu.
"Emergency pandemic funds have been drying up, imperiling already dwindling supplies of vaccines, [and] with each passing week, more Americans are greeting the coronavirus with little more than a shrug," Dr. Wu wrote.
The other issue is fumbled communication about the necessity of the boosters, as some said the primary series offered in late 2020 and early 2021 was a one-and-done deal.
"If this fall is meant to set a precedent for subsequent vaccination campaigns, it may unspool one of the worst scenarios of all: asking shots to do so much for us that they hardly accomplish anything at all," Dr. Wu wrote.