A modified and updated version of Moderna’s Covid vaccine was found to be more effective against Sars-Cov2 and in particular against the Omicron variant that emerged last winter. The same company announced it. The results emerged from a trial conducted by Moderna on 814 volunteers using a new vaccine booster that combines the company’s original vaccine against Covid, together with one specifically aimed at omicron. Moderna said the product is now “the lead candidate” for the vaccine to be distributed in the fall. The combination in the new version produced a 1.75 times higher antibody level against omicron than the original vaccine.
Omicron 5 triggers the infections, the identikit of the variant
The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company will submit preliminary data from the study to U.S. health authorities in the coming weeks, with the hope of making the modified booster available in late summer. A modified modern “bivalent” booster dose was designed to target both the omicron variant and the original strain of the coronavirus at once. US health officials are currently considering whether the modified, variant-targeted booster dose should be used for a fall vaccination campaign. Moderna said its bivalent vaccine could be used for a fall booster campaign, which could potentially provide protection for people during the winter.
Even those who are vaccinated and get sick can fall into the Long Covid trap
by Donatella Zorzetto
