AP, Moderna and Pfizer are testing 2-in-1 Covid-19 protection that they hope to offer this fall. Each “bivalent" shot would mix the original, proven vaccine with an Omicron-targeted version.
In addition to this, Moderna recently stated that a Covid-19 booster designed to target the Beta variant as well as the original coronavirus generated a better immune response against a number of virus variants including Omicron.
The company said the results were a good sign for its plans for future shots targeting two Covid-19 variants. BioNTech also said last month that it has expanded an ongoing clinical trial programme to develop new vaccines and patterns of administration for better protection against the dominant Omicron coronavirus variant. Are nasal vaccines future-proof? It’s hard for a shot in the arm to form lots of virus-fighting antibodies inside the nose where the coronavirus latches on.
But a nasal vaccine might offer a new strategy to prevent infections that disrupt people’s everyday lives even if they’re mild.