WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st April, 2021) The United States began enrolling volunteers in a clinical trial of a new vaccine developed by Moderna that targets genetic mutations in the coronavirus variant that first emerged in South Africa, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said on Wednesday.
"The variant vaccine candidate developed by Moderna, mRNA-1273.351, differs from the currently-authorized Moderna vaccine in that it delivers instructions for making the SARS-CoV-2 spike that incorporates key mutations in the B.1.351 [South African] virus variant," NIH said in a press release.
The trial will enroll 210 healthy adult volunteers at four clinical research sites in the United States run by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the release said.
"Preliminary data show that the COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the United States should provide an adequate degree of protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants," NIAID Director Anthony Fauci said in the release.
The trial is underway "out of an abundance of caution" should an updated vaccine be needed, Fauci added.
The trial will enroll people ages 18 years and older who already have received the existing Moderna vaccine, as well as people ages 18 through 55 years who have not received any COVID-19 vaccine, the release said.
Both versions of the Moderna vaccine use messenger-RNA technology, which instructs cells to begin making stable copies of the spike protein on the surface of the coronavirus that triggers a broad immune response.
Some vaccine experts have warned that the messenger-RNA vaccines are not fully tested and may present danger of wide-ranging side-effects, including death.
