"Biden Seeks Additional Funding for COVID-19 Vaccine Development"

President Joe Biden announced that he will request additional funding from Congress to develop a new COVID-19 vaccine in response to the emergence of the omicron variant. The updated vaccines, which will contain the XBB.1.5 variant, are expected to be administered annually. Pfizer, Moderna, and Novavax are currently working on producing the updated doses, pending approval from the FDA and recommendations from the CDC. While COVID-19 hospitalizations have increased, they remain significantly lower than previous peaks.