Moderna begins clinical trials with a special vaccine for the Omicron variant

The trials will include a total of 600 adults, half of whom received two doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine at least six months ago, and the other half who received three doses of the vaccine. Therefore, the booster dose created specifically for the Omicron variant will be evaluated for use as a third and fourth dose.

The company also reported results on efficacy against the Omicron variant of the booster dose already in use. The company said that six months after the booster dose injection, the level of neutralizing antibodies against Omicron decreased by 600 percent compared to the level observed 29 days after vaccination, but remained detectable in all study participants.

These data were obtained from the blood study of 20 people who had received the booster dose of 50 micrograms, as much as half the amount of the first two doses. “We are encouraged by the persistence of antibodies against Omicron six months after receiving the booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine,” said Stephane Bancel, chief executive of Moderna.

“However, given the long-term threat demonstrated by Omicroni through the avoidance of immunity (created by previous doses of vaccine), we are continuing with the second phase of clinical trials for the vaccine against this contagious variant of COVID-19,” he added. zoti Bancel. The Moderna company statement came a day after rivals Pfizer and BioNTech said they had begun registering participants for a clinical trial with a specific vaccine against the Omicron variant.

Both vaccines are based on RNA technology, making their modification relatively easy, creating the opportunity to keep up with specific mutations of the new COVID-19 variants. Several countries, including the United States, have begun to see a drop in cases related to the wave of infections caused by Omicron, the most transmitted variant discovered so far, but the number of infections worldwide continues to rise.

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