Half of each dose of the vaccine produced 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 the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants in adults, researchers found. Dr June Raine, the chief executive of Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, said she was satisfied that the new booster vaccine met the regulator’s safety, quality and effectiveness standards. The decision was endorsed by Britain’s independent scientific expert advisory body, the Commission on Medicines for Human Use. “The first generation of Covid-19 vaccines used in the UK continues to provide significant protection against the disease and save lives,” said Dr Raine. “What this bivalent vaccine gives us is a sharpened tool in our arsenal to help us protect 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 mostly 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 admitted to hospital with Covid than during the winter Omicron wave. But booster shots have increased people’s levels of protection, scientists from 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 vaccines to the latest variants, but it was unclear whether those vaccines would arrive in the United States in time to prevent a decline. Britain has high vaccination rates overall, with 76% of the population fully vaccinated and 60% having received an additional dose. By comparison, in the United States, 67 percent of the population is fully vaccinated and just 32 percent have received an additional dose. Globally, 64 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, according to the New York Times’ Covid Vaccine Tracker.
