New Vaccine For Omicron May Be Ready In Early 2022, Says Moderna

The emergence of the omicron strain has seen countries rush to clamp down on travel from southern Africa.

Moderna Inc. Chief Medical Officer Paul Burton said he suspects the new omicron coronavirus variant may elude current vaccines, and if so, a reformulated shot could be available early in the new year.

"We should know about the ability of the current vaccine to provide protection in the next couple of weeks," Burton said Sunday on the BBC's "Andrew Marr Show."

"If we have to make a brand new vaccine, I think that's going to be early 2022 before that's really going to be available in large quantities," he said. "The remarkable thing about the mRNA vaccines, the Moderna platform, is that we can move very fast," he said.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech company mobilized "hundreds" of staff early on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day in the U.S., after news of the omicron variant spread.