Rabat – Pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced this week that it has started working on a version of its COVID-19 vaccine specifically targeting the newly identified Omicron variant, in case its current jab is not effective against the new strain.
Albert Bourla, the CEO of the US drugmaker, told reporters on Monday that the company is working on the new vaccine amid fears that new variants could be vaccine resistant and undermine the notable progress countries have made in recent weeks and months in curbing the COVID crisis.
“Friday, we made our first DNA template which is the first part of the development process of any vaccine, and we have made multiple times clear that we will be able to have a vaccine in less than 100 days,” Bourla said.
Bourla likened the situation to the scenario earlier this year when Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech developed a vaccine in 95 days when there were concerns the previous formula would not work against Delta, though that version ultimately was not used.
Bourla said he was also “very confident” that Pfizer’s recently unveiled antiviral pill would work as a treatment for infections caused by the mutations, including Omicron.
Moderna also said a new vaccine to fight the omicron strain of the coronavirus could be ready by early 2022 if required.
The Omicron variant could potentially lower vaccine effectiveness and trigger a new and alarming wave of COVID-19 infections worldwide, many health experts assessed.
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Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) labeled the new virus variant, first identified in South Africa, as a “variant of concern.” The new strain is reported to carry 32 mutations, which possibly makes it more transmissible and dangerous.
Morocco decided to suspend all its flights from and to South Africa, starting November 29 to December 13, in order to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant.
Tayeb Hamdi, a health professional and researcher in health policies and systems, said this week that Morocco has taken the necessary measures to reduce the risk of importing cases of the new Omicron variant.
Several countries took similar decisions, banning travel from countries in southern Africa where the new COVID-19 variant was discovered.
