The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved and granted emergency use authorization Thursday for updated COVID-19 vaccines for the upcoming fall and winter season.

The FDA said the vaccines will target the KP.2 strain, which is an offshoot of the omicron variant.

The federal health agency said the decision applies to the vaccines manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. No decision has been made on the vaccines from Novavax.

"Vaccination continues to be the cornerstone of COVID-19 prevention," said Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, in a statement. "These updated vaccines meet the agency's rigorous, scientific standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality."

"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 variant," the statement continued.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.