Moderna Begins Next Phase of Omicron-specific Booster Trial in Adults After Pfizer-BioNTech | Read Details

Meanwhile, a study from US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), claimed that three doses of mRNA Covid-19 vaccines, either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna, are effective in protecting against emergency department visits (ED) and hospitalisations associated with Omicron and Delta variations of the virus. 

New Delhi: Moderna, an American pharmaceutical and biotechnology company based in Cambridge, has begun testing an omicron-specific COVID-19 booster in healthy adults. Yesterday, the company announced that the first participant had received a dose.

It’s not clear whether global health authorities will order a change to the vaccine recipe in the wake of the hugely contagious omicron variant. The original vaccines still offer good protection against death and severe illness. Studies in the US and elsewhere show a booster dose strengthens that protection and improves the chances of avoiding even a milder infection.

Moderna pointed to a small study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that showed antibodies able to target omicron persisted for six months after a booster dose, although the levels were dropping.

Moderna’s new study will enroll about 600 people who already have received either two doses of the company’s original shots or two plus a booster dose. All the volunteers will receive a dose of the experimental omicron-matched version.

“We are reassured by the antibody persistence against Omicron at six months after the currently authorized” booster, news agency AFP quoted Moderna chief executive Stephane Bancel as saying.

“Nonetheless, given the long-term threat demonstrated by Omicron’s immune escape, we are advancing our Omicron-specific variant vaccine booster candidate and we are pleased to begin this part of our Phase 2 study,” Bancel added.

Earlier this week, Pfizer began a similar study of its own reformulated shots.

Meanwhile, a study from US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), claimed that three doses of mRNA Covid-19 vaccines, either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna, are effective in protecting against emergency department visits (ED) and hospitalisations associated with Omicron and Delta variations of the virus.

The study found that boosters of mRNA Covid vaccines are 82 per cent effective in protecting against Omicron variant-associated ED visits. It also asserted that booster shots are 90 per cent effective in protecting against Omicron variant-related hospitalisations.

(With inputs from AP)