Coronavirus Watch: COVID boosters to be reformulated to prep for fall surge

Anticipating the "risk of a major COVID-19 outbreak" this winter, an FDA advisory panel voted this week to reformulate booster shots for the fall to target the omicron variant.

Omicron's BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants now account for about half of the COVID-19 cases in the U.S. and have been increasing in recent weeks as other subvariants fade. Cases are expected to surge again toward the end of this year, as they did in late 2020 and late 2021. 

Read more from reporter Karen Weintraub.

It's Thursday, and this is Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's more news to know:

• A 14-year-old Amur tiger at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium named Jupiter died Sunday after developing pneumonia caused by COVID-19.
• Federal health officials announced Wednesday that they will purchase another 105 million doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine ahead of a fall booster campaign against the virus.
• Dr. Anthony Fauci disclosed that he had suffered what appeared to be a “rebound” case of COVID-19 after taking a five-day course of Paxlovid pills earlier this month, The New York Times reported. 

See our COVID-19 resource guide here. See total reported cases and deaths here. On vaccinations: About 78% of people in the U.S. have received at least one vaccine shot, and about 67% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

– Cady Stanton, Paste BN Nation NOW reporter, @cady_stanton