American biotech company Moderna has announced that a modified version of its vaccine, developed specifically against the South African variant, is now ready for clinical trials on humans.
"Moderna has sent doses of its specific vaccine against the virus variant first identified in South Africa to the American National Institutes of Health, for a clinical study," the company stated in a press release.
"In our fight against Covid-19, we must be vigilant and proactive of the new variants of SARS-CoV-2 that are emerging", Stéphane Bancel, Moderna’s CEO said, adding that "Moderna is committed to making as many changes to our vaccine as necessary, until the pandemic is under control."
The US Medicines Agency announced earlier in the week that vaccine manufacturers will not have to go through the lengthy authorisation process again for tweaks on already approved vaccines, against new variants of the virus - which should shorten the process and time to get them out to the public.
The Brussels Times
