A study in monkeys comparing the Moderna Inc COVID-19 booster against a shot specifically targeted at the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 showed no significant differences in protection, suggesting that the latter might not be needed, US government researchers reported on Friday.
The study involved monkeys vaccinated with two doses of Moderna’s vaccine that were dosed nine months later with either the conventional Moderna booster or one specifically targeting the Omicron variant.
The researchers tested various aspects of the animals’ immune responses and exposed them to the virus. They found both boosters produced “comparable and significant increases in neutralizing antibody responses” against all of the variants of concern, including Omicron, according to the study posted on bioRxiv ahead of peer review.
Both Moderna and Pfizer Inc have started testing Omicron-specific boosters of their vaccines in human clinical trials.
“This is very, very good news,” said Daniel Douek, a vaccine researcher at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who co-led the study. “It means we don’t need to radically redesign the vaccine to make it an Omicron vaccine.”
Douek said he believes the reason is that both the original and the Omicron-specific vaccines are “cross-reactive,” meaning they can recognize many different variants.
The results are similar to studies testing a Moderna booster targeting the Beta variant, said John Moore, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College who was not involved in the study.
“Let’s see what the human data show,” Moore said. “Monkey data are generally pretty predictive, but you are going to need the human data.”
One key advantage of the monkey study is that researchers can boost the animals and then infect them with the virus and measure the immune response, something that could not be done in human trials, Moore said.
HOLLYWOOD IN TURMOIL: Mandy Moore, Paris Hilton and Cary Elwes lost properties to the flames, while awards events planned for this week have been delayed Fires burning in and around Los Angeles have claimed the homes of numerous celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore and Paris Hilton, and led to sweeping disruptions of entertainment events, while at least five people have died. Three awards ceremonies planned for this weekend have been postponed. Next week’s Oscar nominations have been delayed, while tens of thousands of city residents had been displaced and were awaiting word on whether their homes survived the flames — some of them the city’s most famous denizens. More than 1,900 structures had been destroyed and the number was expected to increase. More than 130,000 people
THE ‘MONSTER’: The Philippines on Saturday sent a vessel to confront a 12,000-tonne Chinese ship that had entered its exclusive economic zone The Philippines yesterday said it deployed a coast guard ship to challenge Chinese patrol boats attempting to “alter the existing status quo” of the disputed South China Sea. Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said Chinese patrol ships had this year come as close as 60 nautical miles (111km) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon. “Their goal is to normalize such deployments, and if these actions go unnoticed and unchallenged, it will enable them to alter the existing status quo,” he said in a statement. He later told reporters that Manila had deployed a coast guard ship to the area
A group of Uyghur men who were detained in Thailand more than one decade ago said that the Thai government is preparing to deport them to China, alarming activists and family members who say the men are at risk of abuse and torture if they are sent back. Forty-three Uyghur men held in Bangkok made a public appeal to halt what they called an imminent threat of deportation. “We could be imprisoned and we might even lose our lives,” the letter said. “We urgently appeal to all international organizations and countries concerned with human rights to intervene immediately to save us from
Some things might go without saying, but just in case... Belgium’s food agency issued a public health warning as the festive season wrapped up on Tuesday: Do not eat your Christmas tree. The unusual message came after the city of Ghent, an environmentalist stronghold in the country’s East Flanders region, raised eyebrows by posting tips for recycling the conifers on the dinner table. Pointing with enthusiasm to examples from Scandinavia, the town Web site suggested needles could be stripped, blanched and dried — for use in making flavored butter, for instance. Asked what they thought of the idea, the reply
RSS