The MHRA announced on Monday that the vaccine from the US biotechnology company had been approved for boosting adults. A clinical study has shown that the vaccine triggers a “strong immune response” against both the original virus strain and the omicron variant. The test is still ongoing in the EU.
It is the first so-called bivalent corona vaccine to be approved in Great Britain. The vaccines available to date have helped reduce the number of corona-related hospitalizations and deaths. However, they mostly target earlier strains of the coronavirus.
The Moderna vaccine, dubbed Spikevax bivalent Original/Omicron, targets both the original strain of coronavirus, which first appeared in 2020, and the Omicron variant BA.1. “Good” results were also achieved for the BA.4 and BA.5 subtypes of the omicron variant, the MHRA announced.
The adapted Moderna vaccine is currently also being examined by the EU medicines agency EMA. At the same time, the EMA is examining an adapted vaccine from Biontech/Pfizer. Its approval is planned for autumn. Against the background of the rapidly spreading omicron subtypes, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned in July that the pandemic was “anything but over”.
Source: Nachrichten
