Moderna launches UK study for new Omicron vaccine

Around 3,000 British volunteers are being sought to take part in a new study for Moderna’s Omicron booster vaccine

Around 3,000 British volunteers are being sought to take part in a new study for Moderna’s Omicron booster vaccine, Qazet.az reports citing The Guardian.

The jab, which is one of the world’s first to tackle the variant, will be trialled at various sites across the UK thanks to a partnership between Moderna and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).

Led by a team based at St George’s, University of London, the study will see half the volunteers receive the new Moderna Omicron variant vaccine and the other half vaccinated with the regular Moderna jab, PA Media reported.

It is already known that people’s immunity wanes several months after Covid booster doses, meaning clinical trials are needed to determine whether people may need a fourth booster dose.

The new trial will also seek to recruit people who have had just two doses of a vaccine and have not yet had a booster.

A separate COV-Boost sub-study will also run to compare using Moderna’s Omicron variant vaccine as a fourth dose with a standard dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab.