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Vaccination center in Brandenburg: an employee draws up a syringe with Moderna
Photo: Jochen Eckel / IMAGO
A booster with the vaccine from the US pharmaceutical company Moderna probably offers good protection against Omikron, the new variant of the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus. The third vaccination with a dose of 50 micrograms increases the neutralizing antibody level by 37 times, says Moderna with reference to preliminary data. A booster dose of over 100 micrograms caused the antibody level to rise even higher compared to the level before the booster vaccination - up to 83 times, according to laboratory tests.
"In order to react to this highly transferable variant, Moderna will continue to advance the development of an Omikron-specific booster candidate and quickly bring it into the clinical test phase if this should become necessary in the future," said Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel.
Clinical testing could begin in early 2022.
According to Moderna, a double vaccination with their mRNA vaccine only leads to a low antibody level, which does not protect against Omikron as well.
For the data, which has not yet been reviewed by experts, the blood of people who received the vaccine against a pseudovirus was tested.
It was designed to resemble the Omicron variant.
According to Moderna, it is now up to regulators and governments to decide whether they want the increased level of protection that a 100-microgram dose of their drug called "Spikevax" could offer. According to the company, the 100 microgram dose was generally safe and well tolerated. However, the body's typical vaccination reactions increased somewhat. The US authorities approved Moderna's 50 microgram booster back in October. 100 micrograms also correspond to the dosage of the first two injections of the agent.
Both the Moderna and Biontech vaccines have been linked to rare cases of inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis), particularly in young men. Several studies suggest that the Moderna vaccine is likely to cause a slightly higher disease rate. However, the risk of this is higher in infected people than vaccinated people, as large-scale studies have shown. The Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) nevertheless recommends that people under 30 be boosted with the Biontech vaccine, as well as pregnant women. For all other people who are 30 years of age and older, both vaccines are therefore equally suitable.
According to the Mainz-based company, a third dose with the Biontech agent also protects well - the antibody titers were 25 times higher, the company recently announced. However, experts have pointed out that neutralizing antibodies, such as the one Moderna has now investigated, are only an indicator of the immune response. The data from the USA cannot yet provide a comprehensive answer to the protective effect of the vaccine against the new variant of the virus. B and T cells also have an impact on the protection of the body. In addition, there have been some differences in the past between laboratory studies and observational data under real conditions.
Omikron, a highly contagious new variant of Sars-CoV-2, was first discovered in southern Africa last month.
The mutant is considered to be significantly more contagious and has quickly spread around the globe.
It has already been reported in 89 countries, the World Health Organization said on Saturday.
The number of omicron cases doubles in some countries within 1.5 to 3 days.
But WHO also pointed out that much is still unknown about the variant - including the severity of the disease it causes.
joe / Reuters