On Monday US-based drugmaker Moderna said its Covid-19 vaccine maintains neutralising activity and remains protective against variants of the coronavirus first identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa.
The company said while speaking to the media that vaccination with the Moderna Covid-19 Vaccine produced neutralising titers against all the emerging variants tested including B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 that are the two coronavirus variants which were first identified in the UK and South Africa, respectively.
Moderna Will Test Boosters To Improve Immunity
To study the ability to further increase neutralising titers against emerging strains beyond the existing primary vaccination series the company said that it will test an additional booster dose of its Covid-19 vaccine (mRNA-1273).
Secondly, the company is working on advancing an emerging variant booster candidate (mRNA-1273.351) against the B.1.351 (coronavirus) variant which was first identified in South Africa.
They are advancing mRNA-1273.351 into preclinical studies and a Phase 1 study in the US and the company also said to evaluate the immunological benefit of boosting with strain-specific spike proteins.
The mRNA-based booster vaccine (whether mRNA-1273 or mRNA-1273.351) will be able to further boost neutralising titers in combination with all of the leading vaccine candidates is what is Moderna’s expection.
Moderna Covid-19 Vaccine ‘Protective Against Newly Detected Variants’
Stephane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna, was quoted as saying, “As we seek to defeat the Covid-19 virus, which has created a worldwide pandemic, we believe it is imperative to be proactive as the virus evolves. We are encouraged by these new data, which reinforce our confidence that the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine should be protective against these newly detected variants.”
Cancel further added, “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.”
Now that the company has cleared all the rumours from people’s mind who wanted to know if the vaccines which are now being produced to fight against novel coronavirus can also keep them safe from the new variants.
How Well Moderna Vaccine Works?
The Moderna vaccine was found to be 94.1% effective against novel coronavirus. But, a person will have to take two doses of the vaccine, according to the results of the clinical trials.
What Are The Probable Side Effects Of The Vaccine
The company has earlier said that when a person is being administered the Moderna vaccine, the person may experience little pain, swelling, and redness at the vaccine spot along with chills, fatigue, and headache.
However, the company in a statement has said that most of the reported side effects were mild to moderate.