Moderna

Cambridge: Moderna says its Covid-19 vaccine protects against worrisome emerging variants of the coronavirus but it's taking the precaution of testing a possible booster dose against the strain discovered in South Africa. In Monday's announcement, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said the move was out of "an abundance of caution" after preliminary lab tests suggested its shot produced a weaker immune response to that variant. Vaccine manufacturers have been testing their shots against the mutated strains including two that first emerged in Britain and South Africa. In a study conducted with the National Institutes of Health, Moderna used blood samples from eight vaccine recipients, and some immunized monkeys, in laboratory tests against the mutated viruses. The vaccine was effective against both variants but researchers found a six-fold drop in levels of "neutralizing antibodies" against the strain from South Africa. Moderna said while the levels still were protective, it has begun … [Read more...] about Moderna says its vaccine works against variants, developing booster shot

The Central government this month gave emergency-use approval to a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech International Ltd. and the Indian Council of Medical Research; another vaccine licensed from Oxford University and AstraZeneca PLC that is being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India was approved. … [Read more...] about Tata likely to launch Moderna vaccine in India, says report

Moderna said its vaccine will be protective against the South African strain in the short term, but "what is unknowable right now is what will happen in six months, 12 months, especially to the elderly because, as you know, they have a weaker immune system", Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, said in an interview with CNBC on Monday. … [Read more...] about Moderna aims to strengthen virus vaccine

China’s coronavirus vaccines were supposed to deliver a geopolitical win that showcased the country’s scientific prowess and generosity. Instead, in some places, they have set off a backlash.Officials in Brazil and Turkey have complained that Chinese companies have been slow to ship the doses and ingredients. Disclosures about the Chinese vaccines have been slow and spotty. The few announcements that have trickled out suggest that China’s vaccines, while considered effective, cannot stop the virus as well as those developed by Pfizer and Moderna, the American drugmakers.In the Philippines, some lawmakers have criticized the government’s decision to buy a vaccine made by a Chinese company, Sinovac. Officials in Malaysia and Singapore, which both ordered doses from Sinovac, have had to reassure their citizens that they would approve a vaccine only if it had been proved safe and effective.“Right now, I would not take any Chinese vaccine because there’s … [Read more...] about China wanted to show off its vaccines. It’s backfiring

Govindarajan Padmanaban is the president of India’s National Academy of Sciences. A former director of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, he is a biochemist by training. He spoke to Bappa Majumdar about vaccines and the challenges in developing one to combat the novel coronavirus:  People say we have been able to largely contain the virus without a vaccine. Do we really need one? We have not witnessed a pandemic of this magnitude after Spanish flu of 1918. This virus has extraordinary capability to spread and cause disease. Viruses reach their peak infection rate, then weaken, but can strike again. It is difficult to predict their behaviour. The vaccines will help control virus transmission and help protect people from progressing to severe infection. If we start now, it will take us a couple of years to vaccinate the entire target population in the country. If you look at human history, there has been no other medical intervention like vaccines that has … [Read more...] about ‘There has been no other medical intervention like vaccines that has saved lives … they’re important to tame a virus’