(E) Moderna released today new data about the protection of its vaccine against the new SARS-Cov-2 variants: “Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Variants Update“. Long story short, the Moderna vaccine provides the same level of antibody for the existing virus and the U.K variant (named B 1.1.7) but a lower level of antibody for the South Africa variant (B 1.351) but still higher than the level of antibody that you will produce if you get infected.

Since we do not know yet for how long the vaccine will provide a protection, Moderna has decided to work on a new vaccine that will be taken as a boost, as a single dose, to protect against the South Africa variant for people who have already been vaccinated. Moderna plans to conduct the clinical trial of that boost over the summer in order to have it ready for the Fall.

References

• “Understanding mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines“, CDC
• Corbett, K.S., Edwards, D.K., Leist, S.R. et al., “SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine design enabled by prototype pathogen preparedness“, Nature
• Covid-19 – Day 369: Finally Moderna’s Finished Phase 3, A Silicon Valley Insider
• Covid-19 – Day 361: BioNTech and Pfizer Vaccine for the SARS-CoV-2, A Silicon Valley Insider
• COVID-19 – Day 120: First Trial of COVID-19 Vaccine with Humans, A Silicon Valley Insider

Note: The picture above is a picture of the SARS-Cov-2 South Africa variant B 1.351.

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