There’s good news and bad news (but not disastrous news) from Moderna—the makers of one of the approved coronavirus vaccines. Firstly, the good news is that the company believes its vaccine is effective against the new mutant variants of the coronavirus that have emerged in Britain and South Africa. However, the shot does seem to be less protective against the South African variant when compared to the original virus, so the company is developing a new form of the vaccine that could be used as a booster shot—just in case it’s required. “We’re doing it today to be ahead of the curve should we need to,” Dr. Tal Zaks, Moderna’s chief medical officer, told The New York Times. “I think of it as an insurance policy... I don’t know if we need it, and I hope we don’t.” Even though the South Africa variant appears to make the vaccine less effective, Zaks said it still sparks an antibody response that “remain[s] above levels that are expected to be protective.”
Read it at The New York Times
