The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has approved the first anti-Covid vaccine updated to XBB, the most common family of variants, developed by Pfizer and Biontech. "The EMA's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has recommended that an adapted Comirnaty vaccine targeting the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant be approved. The Comirnaty Omicron XBB.1.5 vaccine should be used to prevent Covid-19 in adults and children as young as six months of age." Adults and children aged 5 years and older who require vaccination should receive a single dose, regardless of their Covid-19 vaccination history, according to previous recommendations from the EMA and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Children aged 6 months to 4 years may receive one or three doses, depending on whether they have completed a primary vaccination course or got Covid-19. The CHMP considered all available data on Comirnaty and other adapted vaccines in its decision to recommend approval, including data on safety, efficacy, and immunogenicity (how well immune responses are triggered). Furthermore, the Committee reviewed new laboratory data demonstrating a strong response of the adapted vaccine to XBB.1.5 and related strains of the virus that causes Covid-19. "Further data on emerging variants are expected, and the Committee will evaluate these data when they become available," said the EMA in a statement.