First Moderna “Bivalent Vaccine” against Omicron approved in UK
UK government has recently announced that starting next fall, people over 50 would be able to receive an enhanced version of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccination that includes protection against Omicron, after British drug regulators (MHRA) became the first in the world to approve it.
The booster shot will target both the original COVID-19 virus, and the omicron BA.1 variant, which was discovered for the first time last November. MHRA officials said that the adverse effects were similar to those of Moderna’s original booster shot and were typically “mild and self-resolving.”
Flu shots, which are modified each year based on the variants that are circulating and can protect against four influenza strains, do use the strategy to combine protection against multiple strains of the same disease.
According to Moderna’s CEO, this is the first regulatory authorization for a vaccine aiming to fight the omicron variant, predicting the booster will play an “important role” in protecting people against COVID-19 in the winter.
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