Moderna said Thursday that its COVID-19 booster shot is showing a strong response against the coronavirus variants originally discovered in South Africa and Brazil.
- Specifically, the vaccine showed promising immune responses against the B.1.351 (South Africa) and P.1 (Brazil) mutations.
Per CNBC, Moderna is testing a new 50-microgram dose of the vaccine on people who previously received the two-dose COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna.
- Testing results showed that the booster “increased neutralizing antibody responses against the original virus as well as B.1.351 and P.1, two variants that have since spread to other countries, including the U.S.,” according to CNBC.
- Moderna said it has another COVID-19 vaccine in the works that specifically targets the South Africa variant. The booster shot to that vaccine also showed good results, according to CNBC.
Moderna and Pfizer — which both have two-dose mRNA COVID-19 vaccines — have each been testing a booster shot that would protect vaccinated Americans against the more transmissible version of the novel coronavirus, according to CBS News.
When will the third shot be released?
Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel predicted a third shot would be needed by the fall of 2021, signaling the new booster might be ready sooner rather than expected.
Andy Slavitt, senior adviser to President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 response team, said the U.S. government is preparing to help release the new booster shots if and when they become available.
“I can assure you that when we do our planning, when the president orders purchases of additional vaccines as he has done and when we focus on all the production expansion opportunities that we talk about in here we very much have scenarios like that in mind,” he said, as I wrote for the Deseret News.