COVID-19: Moderna expects its vaccine candidate to be effective against new UK strain

American firm Moderna has said that it expects its COVID-19 vaccine candidate to be effective against the new strain reported in the United Kingdom. The company said that it had tested sera from animals and humans vaccinated with the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine against a number of previous coronavirus variants, adding that the vaccine remained equally effective against all of them. 

Read: 'Critical Step': Canada Approves Moderna's COVID-19 Vaccine For Mass Use

"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 described in the UK. We will be performing additional tests of the vaccine in the coming weeks to confirm this expectation. We continue to test the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine against new SARS-CoV-2 variants, and our expectation is that the vaccine’s effectiveness will hold against them as well," Moderna said in a <>statement. 

Read: COVID-19: Pfizer, Moderna Testing Vaccine Efficacy Against New Virus Strain In UK

No guarantee though

The spike protein in the recent variants represents less than a 1% difference from the spike protein encoded by Moderna’s vaccine, which is at its full-length 1,273 amino acids long. Meanwhile, Moderna also warned that the forward-looking statement in its press release "neither promises nor guarantees" that its vaccine candidate will be effective against the new mutated version of the virus. 

Read: Moderna's COVID-19 Vaccine Recommended For People 18yrs And Older: US CDC

The new strain of the COVID-19 has been detected in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, and a few other places. Scientists believe that the new strain is much severe than all the previous variants as it spreads faster and contains a higher viral load. However, until now there is no evidence to suggest that the mutated version of the virus can affect vaccines and treatments. It is also not proved whether the new variant causes a higher mortality rate. 

Meanwhile, Moderna on Wednesday received authorisation from the Canadian government to supply its drug in the country. This comes after the United States on December 18 gave emergency use authorisation to the firm. 

Read: Moderna Gets Emergency Use Authorisation For Its COVID-19 Vaccine In US