Nathan Jeffay is the health and science correspondent for The Times of Israel
An Israeli hospital announced Monday that it is part of a trial of Moderna’s new coronavirus vaccine.
Moderna and Pfizer are rushing to launch updated vaccines to counter new variants of the coronavirus, as vaccines being used lately were formulated to treat the original strain of the virus.
Sheba Medical Center announced that it is participating, along with other hospitals around the world, in the Moderna vaccine phase.
In announcing the trial, the pharmaceutical giant noted that the Israeli hospital had been the pioneer in studies of the pandemic.
Professor Gili Regev-Yochay, Sheba’s most sensible vaccine scholar whose studies have been widely followed around the world, said his hospital considers it “a professional duty to continue to lead global studies in the field. “
“The total world is still handling the coronavirus waves, and the main challenge we face is finding vaccines and drugs that treat the other variants and allow for a lifetime throughout the virus,” he said.
Experts say testing and launching variant-proof vaccines will be a game-changer for the pandemic. The epidemiologist, Professor Michael Edelstein of Bar Ilan University, who is not part of Sheba’s study, told The Times of Israel that this is a vital step.
“It’s exciting because it’s testing what will be one of the first bivalent vaccines, which means it will expand the diversity of variants it advocates against,” he said.
“This is really the long term of the fight against the pandemic that is unfolding. This is the beginning of updated vaccines responding to the emergence of new variants, and it’s smart that Israel is playing a role,” Edelstein said.
“The Omicron component of this new vaccine works along the original vaccine formulas that target the original strain. And while the Omicron component was designed to target early variants of Omicron, it will most likely also target much newer subvariants of Omicron, adding up those that have not yet emerged,” he said.
Regev-Yochay, head of studies and director of the Infection Control and Prevention Unit in Sheba, said volunteers in the new study will be divided into 3 groups: one will receive two doses of the new vaccine; you will get the new vaccine followed by a placebo; and the third will get two doses of the original Moderna vaccine.
The degrees of infection within the equipment will be studied to evaluate the efficacy of the new vaccine.
Paul Burton, Moderna’s lead officer, praised Sheba’s participation in the trial.
“We are excited to partner with Sheba Medical Center to offload additional knowledge on the efficacy, durability and protection of our bivalent COVID-19 vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273. 214,” he said.
“Sheba Medical Center has pioneered COVID-19 studies of the pandemic, and we thank clinical trial groups and examine participants for helping us advance our understanding of mRNA 1273. 214,” Burton said.
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