Existing Covid vax may not be as effective against Omicron Moderna

London, November 30, : The chief executive of American drugmaker Moderna stated that the current vaccines for Covid-19 may not be as effective against the Omicron variantAccording to Stephane Bancel (CEO at Moderna), it will take several months for pharma companies to manufacture variant-specific jabs on a large scale, according to The Financial Times.

The World Health Organisation (WHO), last week classified the latest variant of SARS-CoV-2 virus B.1.1.529, with the name Omicron as a "Variant Of Concern" (VOC), meaning it could be more contagious or virulent or more adept at evading public healthcare measures, vaccines, and therapeutics.The variant contains more than 30 mutations in the spike protein that the virus uses infects human cells.

It has quickly spread to South Africa, Europe, France, Belgium, France, and the UK.Bancel stated that this suggests that the current crop vaccines may need to change next year.Bancel was quoted saying to the newspaper, "There is no place in the world where (the effectiveness is) the same level.as we had with (the Delta) variant.

" "I believe its going be a material fall.I dont know how much, but we have to wait for data.

He said that all of the scientists hed spoken to were like, "This is not going be good." Bancel said scientists were concerned because 32 of the 50 mutations found in the Omicron variant are located on the spike protein.

Current vaccines target this protein to boost the immune system to fight Covid.The report stated that most experts believed such a highly mutated variant wouldnt emerge for at least another year.

All major drug companies, including Moderna, Johnson and Johnson and AstraZeneca, have stated that they are working quickly to investigate and adapt their shots for a new and highly mutated virus strain.Omicron is a "very high-risk" disease according to the WHO.According to the WHO, scientists around the world are trying to understand Omicrons risks and determine if it causes severe diseases.Within two weeks, the data will be available.

Bancel stated that it would take many months before an Omicron vaccine could be made at scale and suggested that there might be a case to give stronger boosters to the elderly and people with compromised immune systems while they wait "(Moderna and Pfizer cant get a billion doses next Wednesday.It doesnt make sense.

But, could we get the billion doses out before the summer? Bancel said that Moderna could produce a total of 2bn-3bn doses by 2022.However, he stated that it would be risky for Moderna to shift its entire production capacity to an Omicron targeted jab at a moment when other variants are still in circulation.

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