It is expected that 600 adults will participate in the experiments, half of whom received two doses of the “Moderna” vaccine against Covid at least six months ago, while the other half received two doses in addition to a booster dose for which “Moderna” had previously obtained a license, according to a company statement.
Through these trials, Moderna aims to evaluate the Omicron booster dose for administration as a third or fourth dose.
The American company also revealed in its statement the results of the effectiveness of the previously licensed dose against the Omicron mutant.
She said that after 6 months of giving the booster dose, the level of antibodies decreased 6 times compared to its peak after 29 days of giving it, but it remained detectable in all participants in the experiments, according to “AFP”.
These results were reached by studying blood samples from 20 people who received a booster dose of 50 micrograms, which is half the amount of the first two doses.
“We are reassured by the continued presence of antibodies against Omicron six months after the current booster dose,” Moderna CEO Stephan Bancel said in the statement, according to AFP.
“However, given the long-term threat presented by omicron escaping from the immune system, we are working on developing an omicron-specific booster vaccine, and are pleased to embark on this part of our phase 2 study.”
Moderna’s statement comes a day after rival companies Pfizer and Bionict announced that they had begun clinical trials of the Omicron mutant.
