Moderna: The booster dose seems to protect against Omicron

Moderna Inc announced today that the boosting dose of her vaccine Covid-19 It appears in laboratory tests that it protects against the rapidly transmitted Omicron variant and that the current version of the vaccine will continue to be Moderna's "first line of defense against Omicron".

The company announced that its decision to focus on the current vaccine, mRNA-1273, was driven in part by how quickly the recently discovered variant is transmitted. The company is still planning to develop a vaccine to protect specifically against Omicron, which it hopes will have reached clinical trials early next year.

"What we have available at the moment is 1273", said in an interview Dr. Paul Burton, the chief physician of Moderna. "It's very effective and it's extremely safe. I believe that it will protect people during the upcoming festive season and these winter months, when we will see the greatest pressure from Omicron ".

The company stated that Two doses of the vaccine produce low neutralizing antibodies against the Omicron variant, but a booster dose of 50 micrograms increases the neutralizing antibodies against the variant by 37 times. A higher booster dose of 100 micrograms of the same vaccine further increases antibody levels - more than 80 times higher than pre-booster levels.

The data, which has not yet been examined by peer scientists, comes from the blood test of people who have been vaccinated against a pseudovirus designed to resemble the Omicron variant. It is similar to the latest data released by the leading American infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci.

Burton said it was up to the government and regulators to consider whether they wanted to increase the level of protection to what a 100-microgram dose could offer.

The company announced that the 100 microgram dose is generally safe and well tolerated, although there is a tendency for slightly more frequent side effects.

US regulators approved the booster dose of 50 micrograms of the Moderna vaccine in October. The first two doses of the Moderna vaccine are 100 micrograms.

RES-EAP