Moderna says its Covid vaccine works against all known variants

The Moderna vaccine is due to arrive in the UK in the spring

Credit: Paul Sancya/Reuters

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Vaccine-maker Moderna says its version of the Covid jab works against all mutations so far – but it is launching trials of a new booster to respond to the South African variant.

The US pharmaceutical company said early laboratory tests suggest antibodies triggered by the vaccine can recognise and fight all known coronavirus variants.

The Moderna vaccine, due to arrive in the UK in the spring, is an mRNA-type model similar to the Pfizer jabs already used in Britain. The UK Government has purchased 17 million doses. Early results already suggest the Pfizer vaccine protects against the new UK Covid variant. 

On Monday, Moderna said lab tests found its vaccine produced neutralising antibodies against all emerging mutations of the virus detected to date. These includes the "Kent" strain, first detected in south-east England, which is more transmissible than the previous variant and may be more deadly.

However, the response was far weaker with the South African variant. The study found that neutralising antibody response was six-fold lower than against the original variant. The levels remained above those that are expected to be protective, Moderna said.

Trials are beginning to establish whether a booster dose can improve the response to the South African variant. Last week, recordings revealed that Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, had raised fears that this variant might be half as responsive to vaccines. 

Research into whether a booster dose can strengthen the response to any new variantis also under way. 

Stephane Bancel, the chief executive officer of Moderna, said: "As we seek to defeat the Covid-19 virus, 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."

For the Moderna study, researchers looked at blood samples taken from eight people who had received two doses of the company’s jab.