Moderna’s vaccine appears to be effective against new coronavirus variants

Moderna’s vaccine appears to be effective against new variants of the coronavirus from Britain and South Africa, the company said on Monday.

«Vaccination with the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine produced neutralizing titers against all key emerging variants tested, including B.1.1.7 and B.1.351, first identified in the UK and Republic of South Africa, respectively», Moderna announced in a press release.

The vaccine, however, appears to be less protective against the South Africa variant, the company found.

Moderna’s findings were based on blood samples from eight people who «had received two doses of the vaccine, and two monkeys that had also been immunized», the New York Times reported.

Moderna’s study was done in collaboration with the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Morocco’s health authorities announced earlier in January that they had recorded the first confirmed case of the coronavirus strain recently discovered in the United Kingdom.