Moderna's Chief Medical Officer, Paul Burton, believes that the new variant of the coronavirus known as Omicron may evade current vaccines. He stated that if this suspicion is confirmed, a reformulated dose will be developed and made available early in the new year. Burton told the BBC, "We should know how well the current vaccine can provide protection in the next two weeks." He added, "If we have to make a completely new vaccine, I think it will be early in 2022 before it is actually available in large quantities." He emphasized the tremendous ability of mRNA vaccines to move quickly.
The biotechnology company rallied hundreds of employees early Thursday following news of the spread of the Omicron variant. Burton advised that anyone unvaccinated against coronavirus should get vaccinated.
The emergence of the Omicron variant has led countries to rush to tighten travel restrictions from South Africa. Concerns that it could exacerbate the winter COVID wave in the Northern Hemisphere and undermine the global economic recovery prompted a wave of risk aversion in global markets on Friday, which carried on into Sunday as the Middle East opened the week.
In a statement on Friday, Moderna said it is quickly working to test the current vaccine against the Omicron variant and studying two booster candidates. The company added, "Since early 2021, Moderna has developed a comprehensive strategy to anticipate new variants of concern. The company has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to develop new vaccine candidates within 60 to 90 days."
