WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved updated COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech and Novavax-Sanofi for the 2026-27 immunization season, the manufacturers announced Thursday.
The updated vaccines target the XFG variant, also known as Stratus, following a recommendation from an FDA advisory committee earlier this year. Eight of the committee’s nine members voted in May to select XFG for the upcoming vaccine campaign.
The approved vaccines include Moderna’s mNEXSPIKE and Spikevax, Pfizer-BioNTech’s Comirnaty and Novavax-Sanofi’s protein-based COVID-19 vaccine.
Moderna’s and Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccines use mRNA technology, while Novavax-Sanofi’s vaccine uses a protein-based approach.
The companies had previously said they expected to make the updated vaccines available for the 2026-27 season.
For the 2025-26 season, the FDA recommended vaccines targeting LP.8.1, a subvariant of the JN.1 strain.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said current data on circulating COVID-19 variants remain limited because of a decline in sequencing submissions.
XFG has spread in the United States and other countries. Health officials have also tracked a rise in COVID-19 activity during the summer.
Dr. Magdalena Sobieszczyk, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, said XFG emerged in Southeast Asia earlier this year and reached the United States in the spring.
She attributed the recent increase partly to the variant’s transmissibility, increased travel, low vaccine uptake and the return to school and regular routines.
Health experts continue to recommend vaccination and other preventive measures, including hand hygiene and mask use when appropriate.