COVID: Moderna says its vaccine produces enough antibodies to protect against new strains

American pharmaceutical firm Moderna on Monday said its COVID-19 vaccine produced neutralizing antibodies against all emerging variants, including the ones detected in the United Kingdom and South Africa. Moderna said although the efficacy of its vaccine somewhat decreased against the South African variant, neutralizing antibodies still remained above protective levels. The company said the two-dose regimen is expected to provide protection against all strains of the COVID-19 virus. 

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"The study showed no significant impact on neutralizing titers against the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant relative to prior variants. A six-fold reduction in neutralizing titers was observed with the B.1.351 (South Africa) variant relative to prior variants. Despite this reduction, neutralizing titer levels with B.1.351 remain above levels that are expected to be protective," Moderna said in a on Monday. 

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Moderna testing booster dose

Moderna, however, added that it will test an additional booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine to study the ability to further increase the neutralizing antibodies against the new variants. The company also said that it is advancing an emerging booster candidate to see if it helps increase antibodies against the South African variant. 

"Out of an abundance of caution and leveraging the flexibility of our mRNA platform, we are advancing an emerging variant booster candidate against the variant first identified in the Republic of South Africa into the clinic to determine if it will be more effective to boost titers against this and potentially future variants," Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna said in a statement. 

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The new strain of the COVID-19 virus was first detected in the United Kingdom in September last year, which scientists said is more severe and highly contagious. Last month, South Africa also reported a new variant, which also causes increased transmission with higher viral loads. 

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