Well, first of all, Doctor Burton,
thank you so much for your time today.
It is nice to be with you
and just for your reference,
I'm the health reporter here at the
ABC station in Dallas, so I've been
covering the pandemic at length for,
well, almost two years now.
And just a nod to all the scientists who
have worked so hard on not only M RNA
technology but the you know the vaccines.
And I think also the education piece which
has become so relevant to the public.
I have my own questions for you.
And then I also have a list of
questions from our audience members.
I think the first one and the most
common one that people have is with
regard to trials for children.
Where are we now?
Yes, so the Moderna vaccine is actually
authorized in a 12 to 18 year olds and
the European Union in the UK and Japan
and many other countries around the world.
We're still working with the
FDA here for that age group.
We've submitted our data from
the five to 11 year olds.
We had remarkable data there as well.
Great protection.
We've submitted that in the
European Union and other countries.
We're still working here with the FDA now.
Our study in two year old.
5 year olds where we use
the 25 microgram dose.
Most adults get 100 micrograms
as they're priming dose.
Here we give 25 micrograms that
study is set to complete fairly soon
and probably in the next few weeks.
We'll get the data as soon as we
possibly can, and we'll share it.
We'll share it quickly with regulators.
With the FDA,
and hopefully that you know if it's
positive they'll they'll approve it.
For those kids,
I agree that they are disproportionately.
Impacted certainly by Omicron.
We've seen that,
and they have no means of protection,
so a vaccine for those little
guys really as well needed.
I think another common question right
now is with regard to boosters.
A lot of our audience members
who had questions said look,
I've gotten my booster.
One person even wrote me this morning
and said I've gotten a fourth dose.
So is, you know,
as far as you know right now,
which I understand can
and likely will change.
But as far as what we know now
are we looking at?
A once a year, an annual type of a vaccine,
or what can people expect?
Should they keep getting
boosted every six months?
So we presented some data in the New
England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday
evening that showed that six months
after people had had the Moderno
booster and they were still protection.
So I think it's good news against both
the original strain and against Omicron,
but it had waned and had waned,
particularly against Omicron.
So I think you know,
as you know we have started
our our vaccine trials against
the Omicron specific booster.
Our prediction is that we will
probably be at a state where people
get a yearly vaccine once a year.
Now aim is to be able to combine that with
flu so that you would go in the autumn,
get tuned up for winter,
get a single flu COVID shot,
and do that on a yearly basis.
I think as we get through this.
Micron Wave and things calm down.
That's probably the most likely scenario.
So why the necessity for an
Omicron specific booster?
If we might see other variants pop up?
You know the Moderna vaccine M RNA 1273
is a is a really effective vaccine.
It's very safe and highly effective,
and it's great against Delta gives
really excellent protection against
delta against other variants.
Gives pretty good protection against Omicron,
but we know the mutations in Omicron.
Give it this escape, so we need something.
We believe that we'll cover Omicron as well,
in part for this year.
Omicron likely has to be
around for this year.
There is now this new so
called stealth variant of it.
So we need some Omicron cover so our
best foot forward is to be able to
develop a vaccine that can cover the
ancestral strain and delta plus Omicron.
If another variant comes along,
I think the power of our M RNA
platform is that we can adapt quickly.
Think about omicron.
We only heard about it on Thanksgiving Day.
You know we're two months out from that.
We've already started testing a vaccine.
I think we can probably even over time,
shorten that.
That that timeline even more so
if another one comes this year
we can be prepared for it.
We can make the mRNA,
put it in the vaccine, and adapt.
But the most pragmatic,
sensible thing to do now is to make
sure that we have a vaccine that can
protect against all these strains.
Keep people safe here in America
and around the world throughout
the rest of this year.
And as we go into the next winter.
So I myself was boosted with Moderna.
I had my initial doses of faizer vaccine.
I know that there are
still people here in Texas,
certainly who are asking about
data around mixing and matching,
and so I'm wondering, you know,
I've heard other news outlets and
reporters call you all competitors,
which I understand, but in a sense,
I feel like there's a little bit of
needing to work together as well.
What do you think about the data
around mixing and matching?
Yes, so the mixing and matching of of
vaccines I think is endorsed now by FDA.
It's endorsed by CDC.
There have been some great studies.
One is the NIH study that also just came out.
I think this week in New England
Journal it's another study from the
United Kingdom called Cove Cove Boost,
for example, that mixes and matches
and it really is highly effective.
It's a great great way to to boost immunity,
so I think medically scientifically
it's very effective.
And look, I would say in in all
sincerity you know we're all in this
together as manufacturers here in
this country and around the world.
With you know we have to partner.
We have to partner with governments.
We have to partner with academicians with
healthcare systems and we're doing that.
I think that has been one of
the Silver Linings.
If there is one of this pandemic
that we've worked together,
it's brought people together to try and
solve this and we have to keep doing that.
We're committed to doing that.
I have an interesting question here
about whether or not Maderna is
working on mucosal or intranasal
vaccines to help with mucosal immunity.
Yeah, some mucosal immunity
is interesting, right?
That's like the first portal of
entry that these viruses get into
us through airway epithelium and
cells and our nose and lungs we do.
There is data that there is protection.
Antibodies are produced in our
resident in that in the airway.
So I think there is some if
we can also begin one day to
actually deliver these vaccines,
intranasally or in an inhaled form.
You know that would be a remarkable thing.
I would just note that we we
announced data earlier this year in a
collaboration with Vertex actually using
messenger RNA in the inhaled setting,
and there was effectiveness there,
so I think it's has great potential.
And your thoughts on a
universal COVID vaccine,
and then also distribution of that.
I I think that you know from.
A layperson's end we might feel sometimes,
like the distribution,
is a little chaotic, so.
What can you tell us from your
perspective about the process,
but also that that the
developmental process as well?
Look for ASAP Madonna.
As I say, mRNA 1273 highly
effective against Delta,
highly effective against all
of the other previous variants.
I think our strategy for now is to
continue to monitor the science.
Make sure that we can provide
vaccines against emerging variants
and I think over time they will just
come together and we will get deeper
and deeper and broader immunity.
So that's really our approach
for breadth of cover.
I think as a as a nation as a
world we've learned so much about
distribution of the vaccines and
how we get them out to people,
and that will continue websites like
make it your vaccine.com are great as well.
You know education is power and
more people know about that.
Where to get vaccines easy simple
websites to go to that let you know
where to go and who's got what
vaccine when will it be available?
We've learned some so much more
about how to do that,
so I think over time it's evolving.
It's getting better.
It's certainly been a learning for all of us.
We have a question about your
M RNA HIV vaccine trial.
That was news a little
bit earlier this morning.
Can you tell us more about that?
So we announced dosing.
There you know the its early days, I think.
Again, these latent viruses I would.
I would note that we have also
generated data in the CMV realm.
We just recently started our phase three
study and CMV as well another latent virus,
EBV Epstein Barr virus as well and
there was a fascinating paper out
just the other week that suggested
that EV might be a fundamental.
Contributed to multiple sclerosis.
So outside of COVID and respiratory vaccines,
we're committed and we have huge effort
in what we call latent vaccines as well.
We think they underpin just
huge burdens of chronic disease
here in the US and worldwide,
so it's a it's a huge focus for us.
I think you know many people are
just coming to know about and
learn about M RNA technology.
I know that Moderna is sort
of a leader in this realm,
not only for COVID as you mentioned,
but we still have some questions from
people who ask what are the long term
side effects of these vaccines now that
it's been a little while, you know,
people who are still hesitant to get,
maybe even their first dose of vaccine here.
In Texas, I'm wondering if you
have any new information or words
to offer those people
so look Texas is you know 58% fully
vaccinated and a third of those people
have been boosted, so that's good.
There's obviously some still opportunity,
but those are numbers to be proud of.
In the what year and a half or so
that we've been using these vaccines,
now, at least for the Moderna vaccine,
over 400 million doses of that vaccine
have been administered worldwide.
400 million.
I mean, it's a remarkable number.
I would say honestly,
we know just about everything
there is to know about the
safety profile of the platform,
and certainly of our vaccine,
and it's incredibly safe.
We work with regulators
and physicians and nurses.
All the time to update them as we find any.
You know safety safety signals,
but there really aren't
and it's incredibly safe.
We know about rash and some pain injection
sites and making us that's well described.
So 400 million doses have
been given so remarkable,
and the effectiveness that we
continue to see in study after
study from all around the world
independently done with Madonna.
We don't participate in them at all.
They're completely independent.
It's just exceptional.
You know,
it's a highly highly effective
vaccine with great safety,
so I would say bringing all of that together.
People should be confident to use
the platform to take this vaccine,
and I would say as well.
With Omicron and the other
variants still surging,
there's really never been a better
time to get vaccinated or boosted.
And I know you've been
asked this question before,
but I'll ask it again for again,
those people who are a bit hesitant.
Still, they say, well,
there are all these breakthrough cases,
so why should I get
vaccinated or even boosted?
Is it necessary I could get
COVID whether it's delta Omicron
and perhaps I will swiftly
recover with relative ease and
I don't need to be vaccinated.
So again,
what do you say to those people?
So that's a great question.
Thank thanks for asking because I
think it is an area of confusion.
So think about this Omicron wave.
We had days where there were
maybe a a million and a half
people in this country alone.
You know, being reported as having COVID?
I mean, that's just an
absolutely remarkable number.
We had maybe 3700 deaths a day
right now here in this country.
We have unprecedentedly high levels
of people in the hospital with COVID,
and in the intensive care unit.
Now, the vast majority of
those people are unvaccinated.
Vaccination reduces your risk of
dying being hospitalized with COVID,
but some something like 90 fold.
I think it's you know it's a huge number.
Vaccination and boosting almost
completely obliterates your chance of
dying or being hospitalized for COVID.
Now there will be breakthrough infections,
but when they occur they're
going to be more mild.
They're far less likely to lead
to hospitalization and far
less likely to cause death,
so I think the prudent,
sensible thing for anyone to do now,
given the bulk of data and given now the
understood risk that COVID brings with it,
is to get vaccinated.
Get boosted,
it's the safest thing to do
is maderna working on any other
treatment option or therapeutics at the
moment for COVID, aside from vaccines.
So all our major approach is is really
using M RNA as therapeutics and areas
like cancer and in cardiovascular disease,
metabolic disease and rare disease in the
infectious disease space with vaccines,
combination vaccines, variant specific
vaccines all in the respiratory field,
and then the other ones we talked
about for latent viruses CMV and EBV.
You sort of mentioned this at the beginning,
sort of a multivariant approach to a
COVID vaccine similar to a flu shot.
I'm wondering if there are, would,
would that look like flu delta Omicron?
All of it together?
Absolutely, it could do that.
Our platform has that capability.
It can do that. So I believe that you
know that may indeed be the next part.
I'm also wondering what your strategy
is or in terms of future focus.
How is Moderna approaching 2023-2024?
With regard to COVID and then also
other areas that you mentioned just now.
Yeah, so a combination respiratory
vaccines for certain with flu and
then the latent viruses as well.
I think we have to move on now.
Oh OK, thank you for your time.
I appreciate it. Thank you.