EMA Recommends COVID-19 Vaccines Be Updated to Target XFG for 2026–27 Campaign

The European Medicines Agency’s Emergency Task Force has recommended that COVID-19 vaccines be updated to target the SARS-CoV-2 variant XFG for the 2026-2027 vaccination campaign, giving vaccine makers and health authorities in Europe a concrete target for autumn and winter planning.

In a recommendation adopted Thursday, the EMA said, “EMA’s Emergency Task Force (ETF) has recommended updating COVID-19 vaccines to target the new SARS-CoV-2 variant XFG for the 2026/2027 vaccination campaign.” The decision matters because it sets the scientific and regulatory direction for vaccine composition in the European Union, allowing manufacturers to begin the formal process of updating authorized shots before countries finalize seasonal vaccination plans.

The agency said the ETF concluded that targeting XFG should “provide the best protection against Covid caused by JN.1 omicron subvariants, and also against BA.3.2.” EMA described XFG as a recombinant within the JN.1 family, one branch of the Omicron lineage that has continued to evolve as the virus circulates. The recommendation was based on surveillance data, vaccine-effectiveness data and animal immunogenicity studies, the agency said.

EMA said XFG’s global circulation began to rise in June 2025 and peaked at 74% of genetically sequenced infections worldwide in October 2025. In Europe this year, the agency said, XFG has been co-circulating with NB.1.8.1 and BA.3.2, though the mix has varied by country. That backdrop helped shape the recommendation, which EMA said was developed in consultation with the World Health Organization, international partners and the companies that hold marketing authorizations for COVID-19 vaccines.

The recommendation is part of what has become a routine vaccine-update process as the virus changes. EMA said the antigenic composition of COVID-19 vaccines has been changed five times since the first products were approved. Under the EU system, the agency provides scientific guidance on what strain vaccines should target, while national governments decide whether to run vaccination campaigns, which groups to offer shots to, and when to do so based on local epidemiology.

For manufacturers, the next step is regulatory. EMA said marketing-authorization holders are expected to update the composition of their authorized vaccines in line with the recommendation and should contact the agency to discuss changes to their authorizations. Updated vaccines can be cleared through the existing variation pathway, with a formal assessment by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, the EMA committee that evaluates medicines for the EU.

The guidance does not amount to a bloc-wide vaccination order. EMA stressed that national authorities will make final decisions on the 2026-2027 campaign in their own countries. It also said the recommendation may need to be revised if the epidemiological situation changes substantially.

The move puts the EMA’s advice slightly ahead of, but not squarely at odds with, recent guidance from the WHO. In a May 16 statement, the WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 Vaccine Composition said, “Following this meeting, the TAG-CO-VAC advises vaccine manufacturers that monovalent LP.8.1 is the recommended vaccine antigen.” At the same time, the WHO said other antigens, including XFG, could be used if supported by evidence. EMA has now explicitly selected XFG for Europe’s next campaign.

For brief international comparison, U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisers also backed XFG on May 28, according to FDA meeting materials and contemporaneous reporting.

For now, the EMA’s decision gives European vaccine makers a defined regulatory target and gives national health authorities a clearer basis for planning the next round of COVID-19 vaccination ahead of the colder months.