The American pharmaceutical company Moderna has submitted an application to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare for approval of a vaccine containing a component that corresponds to BA.5, which is one of the Omicron strains of the new coronavirus and is currently the mainstream of infection. I did.
According to Moderna's announcement, it has applied for approval to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare for vaccines containing Omicron strains "BA.4" and "BA.5" as well as components corresponding to conventional new coronavirus vaccines.
The vaccine is a "bivalent vaccine" that contains two types of genetic material "messenger RNA", creates a "spike protein" on the surface of the virus in the body, and produces an immune response corresponding to each virus. cause.
"BA.4" and "BA.5" have the same form of "spike protein", and Moderna is "BA.5" in the data of the experiment before administration to humans at the conference of the CDC = Center for Disease Control in the United States It shows the material that the response of the neutralizing antibody corresponding to is increased.
In the United States, on August 31st, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) issued an emergency use permit for additional vaccination of this vaccine for those aged 18 and over, and vaccination is actually being carried out.
On the 13th of last month, Pfizer, a major American pharmaceutical company, applied for approval to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare for a vaccine that corresponds to "BA.5".