According to the CEO of the Covid-19 vaccine company, Moderna, existing vaccines will struggle against the new Omicron variant. Stéphane Bancel also confirmed that it will take months before a new shot can be developed.
Scientists are “not optimistic”
Bancel told the Financial Times that data regarding the effectiveness of current vaccines against the latest variant will only be available in the next two weeks. However, scientists were not optimistic.
“All the scientists I’ve talked to … are like ‘this is not going to be good’,” he told the newspaper.
At the same time as Bancel’s warning went public, G7 health ministers held emergency meetings regarding Omicron. Urgency is rising as the variant is spreading around the world and prompting nations to close their borders once again or implement travel restrictions.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has also called the risk from the new variant “very high”.
Moderna working on an Omicron-specific vaccine
Bancel further explained that researchers were concerned because “32 of 50 mutations found in the Omicron variant were on the spike protein, a part of the virus that vaccines use to bolster the immune system against COVID”.
Moderna has already confirmed that it is working on an Omicron-specific vaccine – as is Pfizer.
And according to Bancel, Moderna can deliver between 2 and 3 billion doses in 2022. However, it can be dangerous if all production were to shift to an Omicron-specific vaccine with other strains of Covid still in circulation.