Moderna begins studying potential COVID-19 vaccine booster targeting variant first detected in South Africa

Drug manufacturer Moderna says it will begin testing a variant-specific version of its COVID-19 vaccine that would target the B1351 variant first detected in South Africa.

The company has previously reported that its original two-dose vaccine already approved for use in Canada appears to provide protection against the B117 variant first detected in the U.K., as well as the B1351 variant, though its own research suggests it may be less effective against the latter.

The company says it will study the B1351 variant-specific vaccine both as a potential booster to the original COVID-19 vaccine and as a standalone for people who have not yet received a vaccine at all.

It will study the outcomes of three different scenarios:

• A single shot of the B1351 variant-specific vaccine.
• A shot combiningboth the original vaccine and the B1351 variant-specific booster.
• A booster of the original vaccine, added to the original two-dose version.

The B1351-specific vaccine will undergo clinical trials at the National Institutes for Health in the U.S.

"As we seek to defeat COVID-19, we must be vigilant and proactive as new variants of SARS-CoV-2 emerge," said Stphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna in a statement.

"Leveraging the flexibility of our mRNA platform, we are moving quickly to test updates to the vaccines that address emerging variants of the virus in the clinic."

Moderna reported last month that its vaccine was essentially as effective against the B117 variant as it was to prior variants.

But it found there was a reductionin its neutralizing ability against the B1351 variant.

Neutralizing antibodies are one of thebody'simmune responses to control viral infections.

South Africa paused its rollout of theAstraZeneca vaccine after data from a small trial suggested the vaccine did not protect against mild to moderate illness from the B1351 variant now dominant in the country.

Johnson & Johnson, Oxford-AstraZeneca and Novavax have all looked athow their vaccines perform against the B1351 variant.

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Variants confirmed around theworld

The B1351 variant has been detected in at least 40 countries while the B117, first detected in the U.K., has now been identified in 80. Both have been found in Canada.

Health Canada would need to approve any booster or new vaccine against the B1351 variant before it could be administered here.

The prime minister confirmed Wednesday that Modernawill deliver the two million doses of COVID-19 vaccine it is contracted to provide Canada by the end of March.

Justin Trudeau said Canada expects to receive460,000 doses the week of March 8 and 840,000 doses beginning March 22.

That's in addition to the 518,000 Moderna shots that have been administered in this country alreadyand the 168,000 doses that are set to arrive this week.