The wonders of modern medicine?
It seems like only yesterday we were reporting on the new COVID variant coming out of Africa.
But within hours there were already vaccines for the new variant.
Reuters reported yesterday:
Novavax Inc (NVAX.O) said on Friday it had started working on a version of its COVID-19 vaccine to target the variant detected in South Africa and would have the shot ready for testing and manufacturing in the next few weeks.
The company’s COVID-19 shot contains an actual version of the virus’ spike protein that cannot cause disease but can trigger the immune system. The vaccine developer said it had started developing a spike protein specifically based on the known genetic sequence of the variant, B.1.1.529.
Novavax’s vaccine received its first emergency use approval earlier this month in Indonesia followed by the Philippines. Other vaccine developers, including Germany’s BioNTech SE and Johnson & Johnson, have said they are testing the effectiveness of their shots against the new variant, which is named Omicron by the World Health Organization
As we reported last night, other companies are ready to test their vaccine within the next two weeks as well.
The Conservative Treehouse writes:
Wow, 72 hours ago no one even heard the name Omicron variant. Now, in less than three days, a variant has been identified, global travel has been halted, states of emergency have been declared, and now we see a pharmaceutical company announcing the variant-specific vaccine trial that will begin in the U.S. in a few weeks. This government relationship with Big Pharma is certainly generating some fast action, eh?
