Effectiveness of Coronavirus Vaccines Decreases Due to Omicron Strain

The effectiveness of coronavirus vaccines is decreasing due to the detection of the Omicron strain. This was stated by Moderna's CEO Stéphane Bancel in an interview with the Financial Times, as reported by TACC.

Bancel discussed how the efficacy of the currently approved coronavirus vaccines is more likely to be diminished against the new Omicron strain. He noted that existing vaccines will have less effectiveness against the Omicron variant compared to previous strains. According to him, it will take months for companies to produce large-scale formulations that will effectively combat the new variants.

“There are two things we still don't know about the new strain. The first is the vaccine's effectiveness and what impact the new variant will have on the vaccine's effectiveness; this will become clear in about two weeks. Given the large number of mutations, it is very likely that all vaccines will be less effective. However, it will take time to know for sure,” Bancel said. “It will take two to six weeks to understand this.”

According to Bancel, all the scientists he has spoken to believe that “it will not be good.” He also added that Moderna plans to produce 2-3 billion doses of vaccine in 2022. He stated that most experts believe that a highly mutated variant like Omicron will not be identified again for another one or two years. It is noteworthy that the new variant of the coronavirus has been detected in South Africa and is now rapidly spreading to other countries.