Moderna gave its omicron-specific COVID-19 vaccine to the primary participant in a medical trial, the corporate introduced Wednesday. The report comes a number of days after Pfizer / BioNTech launched a trial of its shot focusing on the fast-spreading variant.
The announcement coincides with the discharge of information displaying that the two-dose sequence of Moderna’s authentic vaccine struggled to dam the omicron variant of the virus, which has mutations that assist it dodge these antibodies. A booster shot restored a lot of its means to neutralize the virus — and whereas that safety weakened over time, it nonetheless caught round for at the very least six months.
Nonetheless, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel mentioned in an announcement that the omicron variant is sufficient of a menace that the corporate plans to maneuver ahead with the variant booster.
The corporate is testing its omicron booster in a single group of people that obtained a two-dose sequence of the unique vaccine solely and a second group who had a two-dose sequence and booster of the unique vaccine. There can be round 300 members in every group.
Bancel mentioned in early January that Moderna may have information on the omicron booster prepared by March.
