Michael Erman, Manas Mahra

(Reuters) -After data from Israel revealed that a fourth dose of COVID-19 boosters had a lower rate of severe disease among seniors, advisings of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration met Wednesday to consider whether or not to increase their use.

Although the FDA does not expect its outside experts to vote on any vaccines, they said that their conversations could lead to a plan for the future.

The panel was presented with data that showed vaccines lost much of their effectiveness at protecting against Omicron-related infections, but they did a better job in the prevention of severe diseases. According to the FDA, this could indicate that future boosters will need to be adjusted to match new variants.

These worries, along with data showing that vaccines are not being protected over time, prompted U.S. Health officials to authorise a second booster of the vaccine. Moderna Pfizer/BioNTech shots and Pfizer/NASDAQ: for those 50 years and over and immunocompromised.

Peter Marks, Director of FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, stated that “this discussion today is much bigger – it’s about what we do regarding the entire population and what we do when the virus evolves further.”

According to an Israeli study, a fourth dose of BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine resulted in lower rates of severe COVID-19 for those over 60. However, it provided no additional protection and was only temporary.