Posted on 01/25/2021 8:34:47 AM PST by SeekAndFind
As two new variants of the coronavirus from the United Kingdom and South Africa threaten to sweep the U.S., Moderna has released a comforting statement to suggest that their FDA approved two-dose vaccine already protects against the new strains.
In trials, the Moderna vaccine did not lose any of its efficacy against the new strains, the company explains in its statement. They will test an additional booster shot of the vaccine to determine if that increases its effectiveness, and will launch preclinical studies of a vaccine booster candidate against the South African strain:
"The two-dose regimen of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine at the 100 µg dose is expected to be protective against emerging strains detected to date. Nonetheless, Moderna today announced its clinical strategy to proactively address the pandemic as the virus continues to evolve. First, the Company will test an additional booster dose of its COVID-19 Vaccine (mRNA-1273) to study the ability to further increase neutralizing titers against emerging strains beyond the existing primary vaccination series. Second, the Company is advancing an emerging variant booster candidate (mRNA-1273.351) against the B.1.351 variant first identified in the Republic of South Africa. The Company is advancing mRNA-1273.351 into preclinical studies and a Phase 1 study in the U.S. to evaluate the immunological benefit of boosting with strain-specific spike proteins. Moderna expects that its mRNA-based booster vaccine (whether mRNA-1273 or mRNA-1273.351) will be able to further boost neutralizing titers in combination with all of the leading vaccine candidates.
"As we seek to defeat the COVID-19 virus, which has created a worldwide pandemic, we believe it is imperative to be proactive as the virus evolves. We are encouraged by these new data, which reinforce our confidence that the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine should be protective against these newly detected variants,” said Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna. “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."
The UK strain was first detected in the U.S. in September. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned the world that this variant is 30 to 70 percent more transmittable than the first, and far deadlier, according to scientists who advise the British government. Over the weekend President Biden announced that a ban on non-U.S. travelers from the UK, Ireland, and several other European countries, will be enforced on Monday. The South African variant has yet to be discovered in the U.S.
With the pandemic worsening, and more contagious variants emerging around the world, this is not the time to be lifting restrictions on international travel.— Jen Psaki (@jrpsaki) January 19, 2021
The Moderna vaccine was approved by the FDA just a few weeks after the agency approved a vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech. Millions of Americans have already been vaccinated.
Still not taking an experimental biological agent.
I am not being a guinea pig for big pharma when they have exempted themselves from any liability of harm done by their vaccine.
THAT tells me, it’s not safe.
Annual flu vaccine and Covid Vaccine here we come!
Soon you’ll have to update your medical status in a mandatory payout scheme which amounts to a tax subsidy on big pharma.
Does it also cure stupidity?
Maybe. On the other hand this is the USA and anyone who has a heart attack within 60 days would come home from the hospital to find a lawyer on their doorstep urging them to sue the vaccine manufacturer. We never got tort reform that people on places like ... well here, actually ... used to say we urgently needed. So that would happen for sure, every ingrown toenail or cataract would be blamed on the vaccine and lawsuits would fly. And this was short circuited through the FDA processes so the manufacturers can't really point to that to defend themselves.
There may in fact be real problems with these vaccines but frivolous lawsuits would have been a guarantee and to get them to release them quickly the government indemnified them. It's just the way it is.
So would simply getting COVID.
Only 4 more days left for me to post on FR!
(Moderna vax date: Jan 15)
“Only 4 more days left for me to post on FR! (Moderna vax date: Jan 15)”
I outlived you. I received the deadly Pfizer vaccine (both doses), and I’m over 2 weeks out from the 2nd dose...alive and kicking. New data reveal the probability of anaphylaxis from the Pfizer version is 11 in 1 million, with no deaths recorded.
Good for you!
I got my 20 yrs in here, so when I croak on Saturday it will be time enough...
rE: I outlived you. I received the deadly Pfizer vaccine (both doses), and I’m over 2 weeks out from the 2nd dose...alive and kicking.
May I ask a stupid question - Once you get the Pfizer vaccine, what is the danger of ALSO getting the vaccines from Moderna *AND/OR* Astrazeneca?
The odds on long-term side effects of various sorts is:
Totally unknown.
Those are odds I find unacceptable.
There is no way they can know as they have never isolated the virus in a lab setting.
Mutations will constantly occur and no vaccine can track that and be changed to cover it.
Preach it!
How do they know it protects against a “new” strain and what did they know about it back when they were making these vaccines?
Do people still get a flu shot these days?
Sounds like total BS to me.
Everyone I know whose taken it has done fine so far... and most of them are very relieved.
I am a guinea pig. Part of the Moderna trial, and haven’t had any problems other than a little soreness after the first shot last year. Don’t know for sure if I’m in the vaccine or placebo group, but even with the slight risk I felt it was important to contribute to the study as an at risk individual. We need to get this behind us, and the faster we can get significant numbers vaccinated the better. The protection from liability was a necessary evil in order to get things moving or we would be in lockdown for many years.
“May I ask a stupid question - Once you get the Pfizer vaccine, what is the danger of ALSO getting the vaccines from Moderna *AND/OR* Astrazeneca?”
Unknown.
The lockdowns were all political theater to get President Trump.
COVID has over a 99% survival rate without treatment.
There are treatments out there that can help, so that would cut it even further if those treatments were allowed to be used.
This virus does not warrant the kind of rushed vaccine push that we’ve been seeing.
There are too many unknowns about the vaccine.
“How do they know it protects against a new strain....”
Likely through isolating the strain and infecting monkeys. When I volunteered for the Moderna study they explained that one of the tests performed was vaccinating monkeys and then infecting them with the Covid virus. None of the vaccinated monkeys got sick. None.
I imagine the same protocol is being used now for the variants. They can intentionally infect monkeys, they can’t intentionally infect humans.
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