Moderna Says Its Vax Is Effective Against New Strains

The New York Times reports:

Moderna’s vaccine is effective against new variants of the coronavirus that have emerged in Britain and South Africa, the company announced on Monday.

But it appears to be less protective against the variant discovered in South Africa, and so the company is developing a new form of the vaccine that could be used as a booster shot against that virus.

“We’re doing it today to be ahead of the curve should we need to,” Dr. Tal Zaks, Moderna’s chief medical officer, said in an interview. “I think of it as an insurance policy.” He added, “I don’t know if we need it, and I hope we don’t.”

Read the full article.

BREAKING: Moderna says vaccine will still protect against the coronavirus variants, altho neutralizing antibodies are sixfold less effective against the one in South Africa (but levels produced are so high, sixfold is not bad at all)
by @nytDeniseGradyhttps://t.co/kOnAcJk0bH

— Apoorva Mandavilli (@apoorva_nyc) January 25, 2021