Moderna Says COVID-19 Vaccine Has Neutralizing Impact On UK, South African Virus Strains

Moderna Says COVID-19 Vaccine Has Neutralizing Impact on UK, South African Virus Strains

Moderna announced on Monday that its COVID-19 vaccine has demonstrated a neutralizing impact on UK and South African variants of the coronavirus

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th January, 2021) Moderna announced on Monday that its COVID-19 vaccine has demonstrated a neutralizing impact on UK and South African variants of the coronavirus.

"results from in vitro neutralization studies of sera from individuals vaccinated with Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine (are) showing activity against emerging strains of SARS-CoV-2," Moderna said. "Vaccination with the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine produced neutralizing titers against all key emerging variants tested, including B.1.1.7 and B.1.351, first identified in the UK and Republic of South Africa, respectively."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the B.1.1.7 variant of the coronavirus, initially reported to be 50-70 percent more contagious, has also been discovered to also be 30 percent deadlier.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned that the B.

1.1.7 could become a dominant strain in the United States by March. With respect to the B.1.351, the has CDC warned that this variant contained a set of additional mutations that may affect its ability to be recognized by antibodies.

Moderna said aside from its own studies, a December 3 letter to the editor published in The New England Journal of Medicine reported that participants in the Phase 1 study of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine retained high levels of neutralizing antibodies through 119 days after the first vaccination dose and 90 days after the second dose.

On December 18, the US food and Drug Administration authorized emergency use for Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine a week after it extended an authorization for Pfizer-BionNTech's COVID-19 vaccine.