London: In a significant step in the fight against coronavirus, the UK on Monday approved an updated Moderna vaccine which targets the Omicron variant and original form of COVID-19, reported Reuters.
Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said in a statement it had approved the vaccine for adult booster doses “after it was found to meet the UK regulator’s standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.”
The country’s medicine regulator cited an exploratory analysis which found the jab to generate a “strong immune response” against currently dominant Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.
The American pharmaceutical company, based in Cambridge, Massachussetts, had said in June a study found a modified COVID-19 booster shot provided a stronger immune response against Omicron variant than Moderna Inc’s original vaccine.
“I think the data clearly show this is a superior booster,” Moderna president Stephen Hoge said in an interview.
