FILE – In this photo illustration, Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 (L) and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines fill their syringes at Borinquen Health Care Center on May 29, 2025 in Miami, Florida. (Photo illustration by Joe Raedle/ Getty Images)
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Advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are discussing updates to the COVID vaccine to cover new variants, according to documents filed this week and obtained by Reuters.
The subvariant in particular is XFG, NB.1.8.1, also known as the Stratus variant.
XFG COVID variant
Big picture view:
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showed the XFG subvariant was estimated to account for a majority of cases in the United States over a four-week period up to April 11, Reuters reported.
Coronavirus cases were reportedly on the rise in nine U.S. states last fall, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dig deeper:
The XFG strain isn’t as good at getting into cells, but it dodges immune defenses better, according to Stony Brook Medicine, the academic medical center of Stony Brook University in New York.
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That means it might spread easily by avoiding detection, but it’s not as naturally infectious as other variants or likely to cause severe symptoms.
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2026-2027 COVID vaccines
What’s next:
Reuters is reporting the advisory panel will vote on the updated formula for the COVID shots later this week.
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Meanwhile:
Earlier this month, the head of the FDA, Dr. Marty Makary, resigned and Kyle Diamantas, the agency’s chief for foods, has taken over as acting commissioner.
Diamantas is an attorney with personal ties to Donald Trump Jr., according to The Associated Press.
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