Britain on Monday became the first country to license a coronavirus vaccine targeting two variants, the original virus and Omicron, the variant that became dominant over the winter.
Half of each dose of the vaccine manufactured by Moderna will target the original variant, and the other half will target Omicron. In clinical trials, the vaccine, an updated version of Moderna’s original Covid vaccine, generated a good immune response to these two variants, as well as to the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants in adults, the researchers found .
Dr June Raine, chief executive of Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, said she was satisfied the new booster vaccine met the regulator’s safety, quality and effectiveness standards. The decision was endorsed by the UK’s independent expert scientific advisory body, the Human Medicines Commission.
“The first generation of Covid-19 vaccines in use in the UK continues to provide important protection against the disease and save lives,” said Dr Raine. “What this bivalent vaccine gives us is a sharp tool in our armory to help protect us against this disease as the virus continues to evolve.”
The side effects were the same as those seen for the original Moderna booster dose and were usually mild, with no serious safety concerns, British regulators said.
The emergence of highly contagious Omicron subvariants this spring appeared to reduce the protection afforded by the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines against Covid hospitalizations, with more vaccinated people hospitalized with Covid than during the Omicron wave winter But booster shots have increased people’s levels of protection, scientists at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last month. The CDC recommends that people get booster shots as soon as they are eligible.
A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel said in June that vaccine makers should adapt the shots to the newer variants, but it was unclear whether those shots would arrive in the U.S. in time to avoid an increase of the fall
Britain has high vaccination rates overall, with 76 per cent of the population fully vaccinated and 60 per cent having received a booster dose. By comparison, in the United States, 67% of the population is fully vaccinated and only 32% have received an additional dose. Globally, 64 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, according to the New York Times’ Covid Vaccine Tracker.