In a statement on Monday, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said it had given the green light to Moderna’s combination “bivalent” vaccine, which will be used as a booster shot for adults. Each dose of the booster will target both the original COVID-19 virus first identified in 2020 and the Omicron BA.1 variant first received in November. British regulators said the side effects were similar to those seen for Moderna’s original booster shot and were typically “mild and self-limiting.” “What this [combination] The vaccine it gives us is a sharpened tool in our arsenal to help us protect against this disease as the virus continues to evolve,” said Dr June Raine, head of Britain’s healthcare and medicines regulator. Such an approach is used with flu vaccines, which are adjusted each year based on circulating variants and can protect against four strains of flu. Stephane Bancel, Moderna’s chief executive, said in a statement that it was the first regulatory authorization for a vaccine targeting the Omicron variant, predicting that the booster will play an “important role” in protecting people against COVID-19 in winter. .
Autumn vaccinations
British health officials have not yet decided whether the modified vaccine will be used in its autumn strategy. In July, the government said everyone over 50 would be able to get a COVID booster in the autumn. On Friday, Germany’s health minister said the European Medicines Agency may clear modified COVID-19 boosters next month. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) says it will provide more information about the type of booster it will offer this fall when more information on multivalent vaccines becomes available. (Evan Mitsui/CBC) In June, Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommended that only those at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19 should be offered a booster shot this fall in anticipation of a future wave, regardless of the number of boosters they have received. previously received. This recommendation applies to everyone aged 65 and over. NACI said people aged 12 to 64 “may be offered” additional doses in the fall. Many provinces and territories have already moved to offer four doses this summer of the primary vaccines. NACI said it will provide recommendations on the type of booster to be given when data are available on multivalent vaccines. In June, the US Food and Drug Administration told vaccine manufacturers that any booster vaccines modified for the fall should include protection against the newer Omicron variants, namely BA.4 and BA.5, not the BA.1 subvariant that included in the latest version of Moderna shot. Last month, the FDA said it was no longer considering approving a second COVID-19 booster for all adults, but would instead focus on revamped vaccines for the fall that target newer viral subtypes. Both Moderna and Pfizer are currently making updated versions of their vaccine to include BA.5 in addition to the original COVID-19 virus. According to the World Health Organization, the latest global spike in COVID-19 is due to Omicron’s BA.5 subvariant, which is responsible for about 70 percent of virus samples shared with the world’s largest public virus database. The BA.5 subvariant is even more virulent than the original version of Omicron and has some genetic differences that previous vaccines may not address. Scientists have warned that the ongoing genetic evolution of COVID-19 means that drugmakers will likely be one step behind the virus in their efforts to adapt their vaccines. “The virus is unlikely to remain stationary and the immunity targeted by Omicron may push the virus down other evolutionary paths,” warned Jonathan Ball, professor of virology at the UK’s University of Nottingham. However, he said the new Moderna vaccine will likely still be protective. “Unless there is a major change in the virus, immunity will continue to protect the vast majority from serious disease caused by emerging variants,” he said in a statement.
