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Moderna: COVID-19 Vaccine booster dose works against Omicron variant

*The Coronavirus Vaccine producer explains the authorised dosage of its COVID-19 Vaccine booster shot increased levels of neutralising antibodies against Omicron strain about 37 times more than pre-boost levels in laboratory tests

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

COVID-19 Vaccine manufacturer Moderna has said its booster shot significantly increased levels of immune-system antibodies against Omicron in the experiments.

ConsumerConnect learnt the drug producer explained the authorised dosage of its COVID-19 vaccine booster shot increased levels of neutralising antibodies against Omicron about 37 times more than pre-boost levels.

Moderna Booster Dose   Photo: EuroNews

Moderna Incorporated mRNA 4.53 percent said a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine increased immune responses against the Omicron Coronavirus variant, compared with two doses in lab tests, signalling the shot could still offer protection despite the variant’s mutations.

The findings, reported by Moderna Monday, December 20, 2021, were the latest positive—though preliminary—results from lab tests suggesting boosters can protect against the worrisome new strain, agency report stated.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company in the United States also said that the authorised dosage of its booster shot increased levels of immune-system agents known as neutralising antibodies against Omicron about 37 times more than pre-boost levels.

It neutralising antibodies are among the first soldiers that the immune system deploys to battle invaders like the Coronavirus.

Moderna Chief Medical Officer Paul Burton in an interview said: “What we showed is when you boost, you get a good brisk increase in antibody levels and they would be correlated with protection.”

The authorised booster shot is half the dose level used for each of the first two shots of the vaccine.

Together with similar results from lab testing by Pfizer Inc. and partner BioNTech SE, Moderna’s findings suggest COVID-19 vaccines designed to fight the virus strain that was predominant during 2020 may still hold up well against variants, such as Omicron that are significantly mutated, report said.

Still, the experts notred that consumers would have to get booster shots on top of the primary series of vaccinations to gain the protection.

Recall that when Omicron first emerged, researchers and health authorities had expressed concern that the variant could evade vaccines because it has many mutations to the spike protein targeted by the shots.

Inside South African lab with the first Omicron findings

As the U.S. and other countries fight Omicron, scientists in South Africa are starting to get a clearer picture, according to report.

A visit to a leading lab studying the Coronavirus strain, which appears to partially evade vaccines, is more infectious, and might cause milder symptoms, reports Wall Street Journal.

Adding to their fears was research, indicating that Omicron is less susceptible to two doses of Moderna’s and other COVID-19 vaccines.

Lab-test results released last week by a team of researchers from Moderna, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Duke University showed that two doses of Moderna’s vaccine had significantly reduced neutralisation activity against Omicron.

The findings from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are based on lab tests, not the clinical trials in volunteers that are considered more definitive.

Moderna in a statement, nonetheless, disclosed its booster results, which have not been peer reviewed and published in a scientific journal, and the drug maker plans to share the data with government health officials.

The Omicron variant was identified late November 2021, in southern Africa, and has now spread to several countries of the world, including the US.

While early studies suggested that the Coronavirus strain would spread faster and reinfect people more easily than other variants, it evaded vaccine-induced antibodies to a greater degree.

It isn’t known yet whether Omicron causes more or less severe COVID-19, report stated.

The new data may reinforce calls by public-health officials for vaccinated people to get booster shots.

In the US, only about 29.5 percent of fully vaccinated people have received booster doses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Moderna equally noted that it found using a full dose for the third shot packed a more powerful punch than the authorised booster dose. A third full dose increased neutralising antibodies against Omicron about 83 times more than pre-boost levels.

Dr. Burton said government regulators may want to consider recommending the higher-dose boosters to increase protection, at least among people at higher risk of more severe COVID-19.

However, in a separate study, Moderna said people receiving the higher-dose booster had more frequent adverse reactions than those who received the lower dose.

Dr. Burton said the reactions include headache, fever and joint stiffness and should be balanced against the potential benefits of a higher-dose booster.

Moderna also tested other experimental booster shots that target older variants, including Delta, and found they provided a comparable boost to antibody levels against Omicron as its original vaccine booster shot, according to report.

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