IN BRIEF
- Pfizer's latest COVID vaccine targets the XFG subvariant, but it has not yet been registered for use in Australia.
- Experts say Australia's vaccine update process could be streamlined as new COVID variants continue to emerge.
Australians can't yet access a COVID-19 vaccine tailored for new variants, highlighting how Australia's system tends to lag behind, as a major manufacturer confirms it has no plans to push into Australia's market.
Pfizer and BioNTech's latest COVID-19 vaccine, adapted to target the XFG subvariant, has been approved in the United States for the 2026-27 season, following international guidance to more closely match vaccines with contemporary circulating variants.
Australia does not yet have that formulation registered.
But experts say the lag is not necessarily cause for alarm, with Australia continuing to monitor circulating variants and having access to relatively recent updated vaccines.
Pfizer and BioNTech's LP.8.1-adapted COVID-19 vaccine was registered on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods in late 2025 and became available in Australia in December.
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Moderna's LP.8.1 formulation has also been registered in Australia.
Australia has updated vaccines — just not the latest formulation
The issue is therefore less about Australia going without updated COVID-19 vaccines, and more about how quickly newer formulations can be made available as the virus continues to evolve.
Professor Paul Griffin, an infectious diseases physician and clinical microbiologist, said Australia tended to lag behind some countries in updating COVID-19 vaccines.
"I think it's just some of the way we're managing those updates just means it's not quite happening as streamlined a way as we might like," he said.
"We know that some countries are able to do that a bit more quickly."
Griffin said countries with more established frameworks could update vaccines closer to real time.
"We tend to lag behind a little bit," he said.
While he said faster access would be preferable, he also stressed the importance of continuing to update vaccines as the virus changes.
Several reasons for the delay
But Sarah McGuinness, a senior research fellow at Monash University, told SBS News there was no single explanation for why a new formulation might become available overseas before it does in Australia.
She said one factor is the decisions vaccine manufacturers make about which countries to seek regulatory approval in, and when, with vaccine sponsors responsible for deciding whether to seek regulatory approval in different countries.
McGuinness also said Australia is a relatively small market compared with areas such as the US and Europe, meaning new formulations are not always brought here first.
Peter Markey, a GP and public health physician who chairs the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners' public health special interest group, said Australian authorities were continuing to monitor the virus internationally.
He said governments, researchers and the World Health Organization would be watching circulating strains and sub-strains and "looking out for vaccines to match them".
There is also an established international process for determining which variants vaccines should target.
Pfizer and BioNTech say their latest XFG-adapted vaccine follows guidance to more closely match contemporary circulating variants.
Along with Pfizer-BioNTech's XFG-adapted vaccine, updated vaccines from Moderna and Novavax-Sanofi have been approved in the US for the 2026-27 season.
AstraZeneca has confirmed to SBS News that it has no plans to release a COVID-19 vaccine for the 2026-27 season.
It withdrew its vaccine from the global market in 2024, and it hadn't been available in Australia since 2023.
What does the lag mean for Australians?
For Australians, the emergence of newer formulations overseas does not mean the vaccines currently available are ineffective.
The challenge is keeping vaccine formulations aligned with a virus that continues to evolve.
Pfizer confirmed to SBS News that its LP.8.1-adapted vaccine is registered in Australia and available to people aged six months and older.
The company has not provided a timeframe for when its newer XFG-adapted vaccine could be submitted for Australian registration.
Griffin said Australia could nevertheless look for ways to streamline the updating process.
"I think that's just where we need to consider a really streamlined way of getting those updated vaccines here and available in Australia as quickly as possible," he said.
For now, experts say Australia's vaccine system is continuing to monitor the changing virus, while manufacturers decide which updated formulations to bring to the Australian market.
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