FDA approves updated Covid-19 vaccines for dominant XFG variant

Decision allows manufacturers to begin shipping doses, but confusion remains about insurance coverage

The US Food and Drug Administration approved updated Covid-19 vaccines on Thursday, allowing manufacturers to begin shipping doses to pharmacies and doctors’ offices across the country.

The FDA approved Moderna, Novavax-Sanofi and Pfizer-BioNTech’s updated Covid vaccines, the companies ⁠said on Thursday, ⁠after ​an advisory panel recommended that the shots should target ⁠the dominant XFG variant.

All manufacturers previously said they could make the updated shot in time for the 2026-27 immunization season.

The vaccines are approved for individuals 65 and older, and for younger individuals with underlying conditions that put them at greater risk of negative outcomes from a Covid infection. (For younger people with such conditions, the age approvals vary by manufacturer: the Moderna shot is approved for children older than six months, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for those age five and older and Novavax-Sanofi for 12 and up.)

Last fall, the Trump administration moved away from recommending Covid vaccines to everyone, prompting confusion over who was eligible to receive the shots. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says it recommends the immunizations “based on individual-based decision making”.

It’s unclear when, or whether, the administration will issue updated recommendations for the 2026-27 immunization season, as the CDC advisory panel has been in limbo since a March ruling blocking health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s appointment of a slate of vaccine advisors to the panel.

The absence of a functioning CDC vaccine panel also raises questions over whether insurers will cover the updated shots. Insurers are typically required to cover vaccines recommended by the panel, but it is unclear what insurers will do if there is no recommendation.

CDC dashboards show current Covid-19 activity level tracked via testing, and wastewater monitoring is low, but rising in recent weeks.