London:
The UK’s drug regulator on Monday said it had approved an updated Moderna vaccine against the coronavirus that targets the Omicron variant as well as the original form.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said in a statement that it had approved the adult booster dose vaccine “after it was found to meet the on safety, quality and effectiveness by UK regulatory authorities”.
This is the first “bivalent” Covid-19 vaccine to be approved by the UK regulator.
MHRA’s chief executive, June Raine, said data from a clinical trial showed it had spurred a “robust immune response” against the original virus and Omicron, and would provide a “technology sharp tool in our arsenal” as the virus continues to evolve.
While vaccines have helped reduce hospitalizations and deaths from Covid, which first appeared in China in late 2019, current vaccinations are mainly aimed at earlier strains of the disease.
The World Health Organization warned in July that the pandemic was “not over”, due to the spread of sub-Omicron bacteria and the lifting of control measures.
Half of Moderna’s vaccine, called Original/Omicron bivalent Spikevax, targets the original 2020 virus and half of the Omicron variant (BA.1).
The MHRA said the vaccine was also found to produce a “good response” against two Omicron sub-variants, BA.4 and BA.5, which have partly fueled the wave of new cases in Europe. Europe and the United States.
It also said the vaccine had “usually mild” side effects like the original Moderna injection.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
