Health
WHO Vaccine Panel Backs Using XBB Strain in Updated Covid Shots
- SARS-CoV-2 strains stemming from XBB.1 predominate globally
- Adivsory group recommends against using Wuhan strain in shots
Prepared doses of COVID-19 vaccine.
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World Health Organization advisers are recommending that vaccine makers formulate their Covid-19 shots to target XBB.1, the globally dominant, immune-evasive family of omicron strains.
Manufacturers should also move away from using the original Wuhan strain in future shots, the WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on Covid-19 Vaccine Composition said. While currently available vaccines continue to provide good protection against severe disease, new data suggest vaccines targeting XBB.1 strains would generate better antibody responses than those targeting the older versions of the virus, Kanta Subbarao, the committee’s chair, said Thursday in Montreux, Switzerland.