Moderna is “in full testing” and is working on three vaccines to counter the Omicron variant of Covid-19, explained the vice-president of the laboratory in charge of Europe, the Middle East and Africa Dan Staner, Tuesday, November 30 on franceinfo. On the one hand, it is testing the current Moderna vaccine, at normal dose or by doubling the dose, but also a vaccine against several variants and another vaccine, in the longer term, in “six to seven months”, against the Omicron variant.
franceinfo: Is your vaccine effective against the Omicron variant or have you launched new tests?
Dan Staner: At the moment, we have no data. We are in the midst of testing. Our company’s strategy against the Omicron variant has three lines of defense for the public and for countries that purchase our vaccine or provide it to their populations. Right now we are testing what I call our booster, our 50 microgram booster vaccine against the Omicron variant. In parallel, we are also testing a 100 microgram vaccine which, we hope, will resist even more because the dose is twice the dose of the current booster. The second line of defense, which should take about three months to come, we believe we can develop a multivalent vaccine, which contains two sequences of Messenger RNA and which should cover the main mutations of the Delta variants and Beta variants. As a reminder, the Omicron variant contains a large number of mutations observed in these two variants, the Delta and the Beta. And the third line of defense of the Moderna company, which will take six to seven months, we are also advancing in the development of a vaccine specific to a single Messenger RNA sequence, but this time directly targeting the Omicron variant.
Do you understand that people are reluctant to be injected with a vaccine that they are not sure is effective against the new variant?
The Omicron variant includes mutations already observed in the Delta variant which is the dominant variant at present, in most countries around the planet, and which are suspected of increasing its transmissibility. It also includes mutations observed on the Beta and Delta variants which are capable of promoting immune escape. The combination of these mutations represents a potentially significant risk of accelerating the weakening of natural immunity or that induced by the vaccine. One dose of a vaccine approved today represents the unique and only strategy currently available to boost declining immunity in populations. Vaccination is the only weapon we have in the therapeutic arsenal to protect the population, whether it is from the original virus which has unfortunately been outclassed by the Delta.
The European Medicines Agency has given the green light for the vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 with the Pfizer vaccine. Is Moderna also preparing a vaccine for children?
The interim analyzes of the “KidCOVE” study of phases 2 and 3 of the Moderna vaccine against Covid-19 are based on a half-dose – therefore 50 micrograms – which was generally well tolerated and showed a number of neutralizing antibodies hardy in children 6 to 12 years old. The results showed almost 100% vaccine efficacy two weeks after the first dose, again with 50 micrograms. Currently, the recruitment of patients between 6 and 12 years old has been completed, but the study is continuing to finalize the recruitment of children between 6 months and 6 years old. The registration dossier was submitted to the European Agency on November 9 and we are hopefully awaiting a marketing authorization in the coming weeks in December. I can understand that for very young people, we can ask questions. It is a discussion that parents should have with their doctor, their pediatrician.