Daily Covid-19 Minute: Moderna Booster
Vaccine manufacturers have been working to increase efficacy against the new covid variants emerging across the globe including Moderna, who has just announced the start of a new trial to test a "booster" shot of their MRNA vaccine.
This extra shot given after the initial doses of a vaccine specifically targets the South African variant of covid to "boost" your immune response and give you protection against that strain. A previous study found the South African strain decreased the Moderna's vaccine six-fold in the amount of neutralizing antibodies produced.
While this was still above the threshold for protection it makes the vaccine much less effective. The new study will include 60 participants and if the results are positive, the booster could get emergency use authorization from the FDA soon after.