Dive Brief:

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday recommended COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers tailor their shots for the upcoming fall and winter season to target the “JN.1” strain, ideally a subvariant known as LP.8.1.

The decision followed a vote by FDA advisers endorsing the JN.1 lineage as the preferred target, similar to the year before . Drugmakers Moderna and Pfizer said they expect to be able to update their shots in time and, on Friday, Moderna submitted an application for an LP.8.1-targeting shot to the FDA.

COVID vaccines will be handled differently under the new FDA leadership, however. Commissioner Martin Makary and top vaccine official Vinay Prasad recently set new approval standards , while on Tuesday Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the Ce

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