The American company Moderna announced yesterday, Wednesday, that it has started the clinical trials of a booster dose of a vaccine that was specially designed against the Omicron variant strain of the new coronavirus.
These trials will involve a total of 600 adults, half of whom have already received two doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at least 6 months ago, and the rest have received not only these two initial doses, but also at least three months before the booster dose that has already been approved.
The booster dose specifically designed against the Omicron variant of the virus will therefore be evaluated simultaneously as the third or fourth dose of the vaccine.
According to the US company, six months after receiving the booster dose, the levels of neutralizing antibodies against Omicron decreased six times from the maximum observed 29 days after its administration, but they were still detectable in all participants.
These data were obtained by studying blood samples from 20 people who had received the booster dose of 50 micrograms (ie half of that given in the first and second doses).
“We are reassured that Antimony’s antibodies remain six months after the current booster dose,” said Stefan Bansel, Moderna’s chief executive officer, in a statement.
“However, given the long-term threat posed by Omicron’s immune leakage, we are moving forward with a booster dose of candidate vaccine specifically against Omicron,” he added.
Pfizer and BioNTech also announced this week that they have begun testing their own special vaccine against Omicron.
However, Pfizer evaluates its formula not only as a booster dose, but also for the initial series of doses in people who have not been vaccinated before.
Several countries, including the United States, have begun to see a drop in cases due to the wave caused by the variant strain Omicron of the new coronavirus, which is the most contagious to date, but the number of cases in the world continues to grow. .
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