Coronavirus: Moderna vaccine for South Africa variant ready for testing
- This particular variant is considered more dangerous because it evades some of the blocking action of antibodies that target the older coronavirus strain
- That partly reduces protection from current vaccines and means people infected with the classic strain are more susceptible to reinfection
US biotech firm Moderna said on Wednesday that doses of its new Covid-19 vaccine candidate aimed at the South African coronavirus variant had been shipped to the US National Institutes of Health for testing.
“We look forward to beginning the clinical study of our variant booster and are grateful for the NIH’s continued collaboration to combat this pandemic,” said CEO Stephane Bancel.
The South African variant is considered among the more dangerous of current mutations because it evades some of the blocking action of antibodies that target the older coronavirus strain.
This means that people who were infected with the classic strain are more susceptible to reinfection, and research has also shown it has partly reduced the protection of the current generation of vaccines.
01:46
One-shot coronavirus vaccine by Johnson & Johnson is safe and effective, US FDA finds
While initial testing has shown that Moderna’s original vaccine called mRNA-1273 remains effective against emerging variants, the company said it was pursuing development of the variant-specific vaccine as part of a number of strategies being considered.