Moderna is working on an omicron-specific vaccine that should be in clinics soon, the head of drug making company said in an interview with CNBC.
Moderna Chief Executive Stéphane Bancel also said the Moderna can supply 2-3 billion doses of the boosters this year.
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Moderna last month said that a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine appeared to be protective against the fast-spreading omicron variant in laboratory testing and that the current version of the vaccine would continue to be Moderna’s “first line of defense against omicron.”
The vaccine maker had said the decision to focus on the current vaccine, mRNA-1273, was driven in part by how quickly the recently discovered variant was spreading. The company had previously said it was planning to develop a vaccine to protect against omicron and hoped to advance into clinical trials early this year.
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