FDA panel urges XFG variant for fall Covid‑19 vaccines

An advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted Thursday to recommend updating this fall's Covid-19 vaccines to target the XFG variant, a fast-growing strain nicknamed "Stratus." The recommendation from the FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is intended to guide vaccine manufacturers as they prepare shots for the fall and winter, when infections typically rise.

Eight of the nine panel members voted in favor of the recommendation, while one abstained. The committee's recommendation is not final; the decision now goes to the FDA, which is expected to authorize manufacturers to begin production. The agency currently lacks a permanent vaccine chief and commissioner following recent leadership changes.

The XFG variant is a hybrid of two omicron variants and carries mutations that could help it partially evade antibodies from prior infection or vaccination, according to a CDC official who presented to the panel. Data presented Thursday showed that XFG and its descendants account for more than half of new infections in the United States, with one descendant, XFG.1.1, currently accounting for about one in four infections. Experts noted...