The chief executive of Moderna has just predicted that existing COVID-19 vaccines will be much less effective at tackling Omicron than earlier variants of SARS-CoV-2 and warned it would take months before pharmaceutical companies can manufacture new variant-specific jabs at scale.
Stéphane Bancel said the high number of Omicron mutations on the spike protein, which the virus uses to infect human cells, and the suspected potential rapid spread of the variant in South Africa, suggested the current crop of COVID-19 vaccines may need to be modified next year to beat Omicron.
“There is no world, I think, where [the effectiveness] is the same level . . . we had with Delta,” Bancel said.
He added: “I think it’s going to be a material drop. I just don’t know how much because we need to wait for the data. But all the scientists I’ve talked to . . . are like ‘this is not going to be good’.”
Vaccine effectiveness against the #COVID19 #Omicron variant will likely drop, Moderna’s CEO says.https://t.co/JQFQ0NMSpA pic.twitter.com/jOPEaIV26E
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) November 30, 2021
Markets again spooked by Moderna CEO's self-serving comments which were identical to those given by the Chief Medial Officer two days earlier, confirm that algos have a 15 millisecond memory
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) November 30, 2021
The head of US vaccine manufacturer Moderna says existing #COVID19 jabs will struggle against the Omicron variant and it will take months to develop a new shot that works.https://t.co/5UrkmhbwHc
— Jamaica Observer (@JamaicaObserver) November 30, 2021
Moderna CEO says vaccines likely less effective against Omicron – FT https://t.co/rDay3GECds pic.twitter.com/9mT38B5PSG
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 30, 2021
The Omicron COVID variant was present in the Netherlands before South Africa first reported the strain, according to Dutch health authorities.
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) November 30, 2021
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