Moderna says updated COVID shot boosts omicron protection.
- Moderna’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine that combines its original shot with protection against the omicron variant appears to work, the company announced Wednesday.
Moderna’s preliminary study results show people given the combination shot experienced an eight-fold increase in virus-fighting antibodies capable of targeting the omicron mutant, the company announced. But the virus continues to mutate rapidly in ways that let it evade some of the vaccines’ protections and cause milder infections.
Key questions: How to make that change without losing the continued strong protection against COVID-19′s worst outcomes? And what’s the right variant to target? After the huge winter omicron surge, that mutant’s genetically distinct siblings now are the main threats, including one that’s fueling the current U.S. wave of infections.