Moderna says Covid-19 vaccine appears effective against new variants

This article is more than 12 months old

Jan 26, 2021 06:00 am

WASHINGTON Moderna said yesterday its Covid-19 vaccine produced virus-neutralising antibodies in laboratory tests against new variants found in the UK and South Africa.

A two-dose regimen of its vaccine is expected to protect against emerging strains detected to date, the company said.

Moderna, however, said it would test a vaccine booster against the South Africa variant in pre-clinical trials to see if that would be more effective in boosting antibodies against it and other future variants.

Although all viruses mutate constantly, scientists are concerned about the mutations discovered in Britain and South Africa because they are believed to be capable of altering key functions of the virus. - Reuters