Moderna Working On New Vaccine To Target All Variants

As Moderna's shot receives full approval, many remain skeptical about the COVID-19 vaccine, with only 55% of Oklahomans fully vaccinated.

"Too many grannies and granddads have died from this disease, and it is fully preventable," said Paul Burton, Moderna's Chief Medical Officer.

Recently, U.S. regulators gave full approval to the Moderna shot.

With this approval, Moderna hopes this will allow more people to trust their vaccine.

And now they continue to evolve, especially with fighting against the omicron variant.

"Step back for a moment and think about delta. Delta has not gone away, and our vaccine has great protection against delta and against the other variants," said Burton.

Moderna has entered phase two of testing an omicron-targeted vaccine.

The omicron booster shows protection against the variant even though the antibodies do decline.

Many medical officials predict the current omicron wave's peak is expected this month, leading to commentary on variant focus.

"We think certainly this year omicron is going to be here, but delta is still going to be here. So we need a vaccine for the remainder of 2022," said Burton. 

Moderna is working on another "catch-all" vaccine like a flu shot, which will target all the variants.

They plan on testing this vaccine by the end of the year and have it released by fall 2023.