US-based pharma company Moderna on Wednesday said that the immunity induced by its COVID-19 vaccine would be protective against the coronavirus variant reported in the UK.
According to a report by Reuters, the company also said that it is planning to run tests to confirm the vaccine’s activity against any strain.
"Moderna expects that the immunity induced by its COVID-19 vaccine would be protective against coronavirus variants reported in the United Kingdom (UK)," read the statement released by Moderna.
It also confirmed to perform additional tests of its vaccine in the coming weeks to check the effectiveness against the new strain of the virus. "We plan to run tests to confirm the activity of the vaccine against any strain," added the release.
Based on the data to date, Moderna expects that the vaccine-induced immunity from the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine would be protective against the variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus recently discovered in the UK.
More than 50 countries, including India, have banned travel to and from the UK, a move several scientists said was necessary in view of the rapid spread of the new viral strain that was detected on September 21. In November, around a quarter of cases in London were the new variant. This reached nearly two-thirds of the cases in mid-December.
On Wednesday, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock on Wednesday announced that more areas of the East and South East of England will be put into Tier Four restrictions, the highest level, while revealing that two cases of another new variant of the novel coronavirus have been identified in Britain.
