Moderna CEO says Covid-19 vaccines likely no match for Omicron variant
- Mutations likely to help Omicron evade protection provided by existing vaccines, CEO says
- The World Health Organization has called the risk from the new Covid-19 variant ‘very high’
Existing Covid-19 jabs will struggle against the Omicron variant and it will take months to develop a new shot that works, the head of US vaccine manufacturer Moderna has told the Financial Times.
Stephane Bancel told the newspaper in an interview published Tuesday that data would be available on the effectiveness of current vaccines in the next two weeks but scientists were not optimistic.
“All the scientists I’ve talked to … are like ‘this is not going to be good’,” he told the newspaper.
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Asia tightens borders as spread of new coronavirus variant Omicron clouds region’s return to travel
Bancel’s warning came as G7 health ministers held emergency talks on the new variant, which is spreading around the world and prompting nations to close their borders once again or impose fresh travel restrictions.
The World Health Organization has called the risk from Omicron “very high”.
Bancel said 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.
He said there would be a “material drop” in the effectiveness of current jabs against Omicron.
