Moderna Says New Vaccine Booster Shows 'Superior' Response to Omicron; Yearly Booster? New Variants

- NPR, June 8, 2022. Ed.

Moderna says its new vaccine candidate, which fights both the original COVID-19 strain and the now-dominant omicron variant, shows a "superior neutralizing antibody response" against the coronavirus compared to its original vaccine. The "bivalent" vaccine — meaning it targets 2 different antigens — is Moderna's leading candidate to have an effective booster ready for fall of 2022, the company said.

"We are submitting our preliminary data and analysis to regulators with the hope that the Omicron-containing bivalent booster will be available in the late summer," Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a news release. - A yearly COVID-19 booster is possible, Moderna says: Because of the higher antibody response seen with the new vaccine candidate, Moderna predicts that people who get the booster will have protection that is "more durable over time" against omicron, compared to the original Moderna vaccine.

The protection is so strong that it could potentially last a year, Dr. Paul Burton, Moderna's chief medical officer, told NPR. That means that if the company's findings bear out, people might only need annual COVID-19 boosters from now on. A yearly booster shot would bring new relief to the public and to a health care system that's been stressed by the pandemic, including the need to administer millions of vaccine doses, followed by booster shots.

Health experts contacted by NPR on Wednesday say it remains to be seen how well Moderna's vaccine might work against some of the newer omicron subvariants that are even better at dodging the immune system. - New variants are spreading quickly in the U.S. The coronavirus has presented a moving target to immunologists, as new variants and strains quickly replace one another. News of Moderna's bivalent vaccine comes as even more contagious omicron variants are taking over in the U.S.

Pfizer and BioNTech are also testing a version of their vaccine that targets the omicron variant...

- More, https://www.npr.org/2022/06/08/1103659340/moderna-vaccine-booster-omicron