U.S. FDA approves updated COVID-19 vaccines against variants

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday approved and granted emergency use authorization for updated mRNA COVID-19 vaccines to better protect against currently circulating variants, reported Xinhua.

The FDA said the updated vaccines will target the Omicron variant KP.2 strain.

"Given waning immunity of the population from previous exposure to the virus and from prior vaccination, we strongly encourage those who are eligible to consider receiving an updated COVID-19 vaccine to provide better protection against currently circulating variants," said Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

"The updated mRNA COVID-19 vaccines include Comirnaty and Spikevax, both of which are approved for individuals 12 years of age and older, and the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, both of which are authorized for emergency use for individuals 6 months through 11 years of age," the FDA said in a press release.