Moderna’s vaccine against Coronavirus seems to be effective against the new variants of the virus found in Britain and South Africa, the US pharmaceutical said in an announcement on Monday, with the findings yet to be peer reviewed.
“Vaccine showing activity against emerging strains of SARS-CoV-2. Vaccination with the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine produced neutralizing titers against all key emerging variants tested, including B.1.1.7 and B.1.351, first identified in the UK and Republic of South Africa, respectively,” the statement reads.
Concerning the South Africa variant, the biotechnology company added said the vaccine generated a weaker immune response, however the body still produces “enough antibodies to be protected.”
It added that it will test an additional booster dose of its vaccine to examine the ability to further increase neutralising titers against the emerging strains beyond the existing primary vaccination series, while it will also advance an emerging variant booster candidate variant first identified in the Republic of South Africa.
“Out of an abundance of caution and leveraging the flexibility of our mRNA platform, we are advancing an emerging variant booster candidate against the variant first identified in the Republic of South Africa into the clinic to determine if it will be more effective to boost titers against this and potentially future variants,” said Stephane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna.
