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Moderna is testing two booster shots options – one aimed specifically at the South African variant and another to largely combat the new mutations. Laboratory research using blood from people and monkeys who had received the company’s vaccine found that the British variant did not appear to reduce the production of neutralizing antibodies. But the South African variant showed a six-fold reduction, the company said.
Other research has suggested the British variant is more transmissible than previous versions of the virus. A UK government science advisory committee said on Friday that “there is a realistic possibility” that the UK variant is also deadlier.
Moderna said the development of the booster was a precaution because its already cleared two-dose regimen still offered substantial protection against the British and South African strains in the lab study.
“As we seek to defeat the COVID-19 virus, which has created a global pandemic, we believe it is imperative to be proactive as the virus evolves,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement. The company is launching human trials for the South African booster vaccine “out of caution,” he added.
Moderna conducted the laboratory study in collaboration with NIAID and published the research online in bioRxiv before peer review. The company said it would submit the study to a peer-reviewed journal.
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