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Moderna has said it will seek permission for an updated coronavirus vaccine designed to protect against omicron sub-variants, which the company has described as its “leading candidate” for fall amplifier, but it remains unclear how effective the shot will be against the latest versions of the variant. omicron spread in the United States.
Preliminary data released by the company on Wednesday show that its candidate for amicron-targeted coronavirus amplification has produced 1.75 times more neutralizing antibodies against the winter version of omicron circulating in the winter, known as BA.1, compared to with the existing vaccine.
But the omicron variant has mutated so rapidly that several new sub-variants have emerged that are even better at avoiding the immune system’s defenses. Two of them, known as BA.4 and BA.5, are now responsible for 13 percent of new coronavirus cases in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in new estimates. It is unclear whether BA.4 and BA.5 will become dominant in the coming months or whether the existing immunity in the population against infections and vaccinations will limit their spread.
Biden officials say they are preparing for an autumn and winter wave that could lead to 100 million coronavirus infections and a potentially significant number of deaths driven by omicron subvariants. This makes it even more important to have more effective vaccines, especially to protect the elderly and the most vulnerable.
Moderna executives said in a conversation Wednesday that they believe the updated vaccine will still provide additional protection against newer subunits of omicron, although researchers have tested its booster dose against BA.1. Even if updated The booster provides less protection against later omicron sub-variants than against BA.1, and will probably still be more effective against them than the company’s existing booster, said Moderna President Stephen Hoge.
“We are quite confident that this vaccine will be beneficial even against the family of omicron subvariants,” Hoge said during a briefing with reporters.
Shortly after the Omicron variant was identified in South Africa late last year, Moderna said it was developing photos specifically designed to combat the variant. Pfizer and BioNTech have announced the same plan, although they have not yet released data on their updated vaccine.
Moderna publishes data in support of its autumn vaccine strategy
Data from a recent clinical trial involving 437 participants showed that the Omicron-targeted Moderna booster is likely to provide longer-term protection against variants a month later than earlier versions of its coronavirus vaccine, Moderna said. .
The booster was “generally well tolerated” with side effects comparable to those of earlier boosters, the company said.
For several months, the White House has been pushing Congress for more than $ 20 billion for the coronavirus response. Legislators have not yet approved new funding.
The official number of new daily coronavirus infections is slowly rising in the United States, although actual numbers are thought to be far higher because so many people are being tested at home. The country has seen a 38 percent increase in new cases in the past week, according to data collected by The Washington Post, as protection against booster injections and previous infections dwindles and more people continue their lives without masks.
Worldwide, new coronavirus cases are still declining after the omicron variant caused tens of millions of new cases worldwide, increasing infections in the winter.
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