BioNTech said Friday it's expecting more data in the coming weeks on a worrying new COVID-19
variant first detected in South Africa, that will help determine whether the company needs
to rework its vaccine.
The Omicron variant has raised global alarm.
Countries around the world have tightened border controls because of it, and scientists
are scrambling to see if vaccines currently in use against the coronavirus still work.
Pfizer and BioNTech said that if necessary they expect to be able to ship a new vaccine
targeting the variant in approximately 100 days.
Moderna said in a statement it's working to advance a booster candidate tailored to the
new variant, testing a higher dose of its existing booster and studying other booster
candidates.
Meanwhile Johnson and Johnson said it is also closely monitoring emerging variants and testing
the effectiveness of its shot against them.
Pfizer and BioNTech have already created versions of their established mRNA-based vaccine to
target the so-called Alpha and Delta variants, with clinical trials ongoing.