When the Omicron variant emerged, many weren’t sure whether current mRNA vaccines could hold the fort, as they had done with variants such as the Victoria, Beta and Delta. It was possible that existing vaccines would not be as effective. Updating vaccines became a top priority, to help address the new variant.
Moderna published its assessment of its mRNA vaccine and a 50µg booster against Omicron. The post on LinkedIn claimed that the results show that, after the first 2 doses of the Moderna vaccine, while individuals had detectable neutralizing antibody titers against Omicron, they were significantly lower compared to the wild-type virus.
A booster dose of mRNA-1273, at the 50µg dose level, does, however, significantly increase neutralizing antibody titers against Omicron. These and additional data have been submitted to a preprint server (a way to get work to peers for review and comment quickly).
The company said that they are working on a three-part strategy to address the Omicron variant and expects data on a 100µg booster dose and on their mRNA multivalent vaccine approaches in the coming week.
Thailand’s Department of Disease Control reported that the country has administered at least 98,856,753 doses of COVID vaccines so far, with only 4,567,313 people receiving a 3rd booster dose. The main vaccines used are AstraZeneca and Sinovac, while Pfizer is now being administered in booster jabs at Bangkok’s Bangsue Grand Station inoculation facility.
