Officials expected to decide on new COVID-19 vaccine design in early July
ABC News
Officials are planning to roll out an updated vaccine this fall and winter.
Federal regulators are expected to decide on a new COVID-19 vaccine design in early July, which would allow vaccine companies to begin production for rollout this fall and winter, a top official told ABC News.
Food and Drug Administration vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks said the decision would likely come from the FDA shortly after its advisory committee meets on June 28 to review data from the vaccine companies about the versions of next-generation vaccines they're testing.
The FDA will then make a decision on which type of vaccine the companies should go ahead with, an estimation they'll base on what could offer the best protection even in the face of new variants this fall and winter, similar to how the flu vaccine is concocted ahead of flu season.
"We'll have to make some decision by early July to make sure that the manufacturers know what we're looking to do, so that they know what they have to start producing in large quantities," Marks, who serves as director of the department that oversees vaccines within the FDA, told ABC News in an interview.