The emergence of the highly-mutated omicron variant of coronaviruses sparked concerns that existing vaccines may be less effective and triggered a new vaccine race to develop shots to target the strain.
Omicron may be able to evade immunity from vaccines.
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J&J has begun work on a vaccine for omicron and is testing blood from people who have participated in a booster trial to see if it can stop the variant.
Moderna is working on a booster and multiple-variant vaccine targeting omicron, and the company is considering using a higher dose, according to the president.
According to an interview with the Financial Times, Bancel warned of a material drop in vaccine efficacy due to omicron's high number of mutations on the virus' spike protein, which most vaccines use to train the immune system.
The variant of the vaccine developed by BioNTech might be able to cause some side effects, but it will still offer a high level of protection against severe disease.
The company could ship a modified vaccine in around 100 days, if needed, though the company acknowledged a modified vaccine could be needed.
The University of Oxford, the vaccine's co-developer, said the jab has provided "very high levels of protection against severe disease" against new variants emerging over the past year and there is "no evidence so."
Novavax said it is evaluating whether its shot works against omicron and will begin commercial production of an omicron-specific jab as soon as January.
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There are many ways vaccine makers could respond to a new variant like omicron, explained the U.S. leading infectious disease official during a press briefing. He explained that they could ramp up production of existing shots, develop a single shot that includes features from older and newer strains, or produce a variant-specific booster jab.
We don't know what we don't know.
There is not much data on how effective Covid-19 vaccines are against omicron despite the race to understand the new variant. The need to scrutinize the variant more closely has been urged by most experts. The need for further research and the need for our immune systems to be built from more than just antibodies is acknowledged by pharmaceutical companies. The chief scientist of the World Health Organization told the Financial Times that it was premature to draw any conclusions about the efficacy of vaccines against omicron.
The quote is crucial.
Dame Sarah Gilbert, one of the creators of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, said that they should be cautious and slow down the spread of the new variant until we know more. Gilbert said the shots could still offer the same degree of protection against severe illness and death despite the changes in omicron. She said that this will not be the last time a virus threatens lives. The next one could be worse. It could be more lethal.
The key background.
The WHO designated a variant of concern after researchers in South Africa sounded the alarm over a highly mutated form of virus in late November. Preliminary data shows that it is spreading rapidly in South Africa and is driving a spike of new infections but may be causing less severe disease in those who get it. Time will be needed to gather hard evidence and governments around the world moved swiftly to close off travel to southern Africa, something South African officials complained was unfair. Omicron has been found in 19 states across the U.S. and a growing number of countries around the world.
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