FDA panel recommends updating Covid shotsupdating Covid shots to target XFG strain
A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel in the United States recommended on Thursday that this fall’s Covid shots be updated to target the XFG variant, a fast-growing strain nicknamed stratus.
The recommendation comes as vaccine policy has been unsettled by a court fight over earlier advisory decisions. It matters because the guidance helps shape which vaccine formulas may be used in the next immunization season.
- COVID vaccines have been revised several times since the pandemic began to track changing variants.
- U.S. vaccine committees often influence guidance that is later echoed by other countries.
- The nickname stratus follows a weather-themed naming trend used by some scientists for variants.
