Pzifer working to develop vaccine against ‘Omicron’ variant

Pzifer company has stated that the company has already commenced work to develop a new version of the COVID-19 vaccine, in particular for the newly arrived contagious variant of COVID-19 – ‘Omicron’. 

There are reports that the mutations in the new variant decrease the efficacy rate of the COVID-19 vaccines, the CEO of the company – Albert Bourla, stated. 

“I do not think the result will be the vaccines don’t protect, but the testing could show that existing shots “protect less,” which would mean “that we need to create a new vaccine”, the CEO further noted. 

Following his statement, he noted that on Friday, the company had made their first DNA template, which is the first possible inflection of the development process of a new vaccine. 

The CEO of Pzifer further expressed its confidence over the COVID-19 pill developed by the company, noting that the pill would prove to be effective against the various COVID-19 variants by decreasing their transmission, including Omicron. 

The study findings show that the pill developed by Pzifer cuts down the chances of death and hospitalization due to COVID-19 by around 90 percent. 

Apart from this, Johnson and Johnson informed on Monday that the company is also looking forward for a specific COVID-19 vaccine against the new variant – ‘Omicron’, stating, “We are pursuing an Omicron-specific variant vaccine and will progress it as needed”. 

While, On Friday, Moderna stated that it is also developing a booster shot against the new variant.  

Omicron initially was identified as ‘B.1.1.529’ by the international organization. The new variant has also been – identified in – Botswana, Belgium, Hong Kong and Israel.  

“This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning,” WHO cited on Friday.  

The international organization further asserted that researchers across South African are currently carrying comprehensive research on the new variant, which includes its severity and transmission.