Omicron on 5 continents. The CEO of Moderna: with a variant the current vaccines will struggle

• Covid, the world on alert for Omicron, Super Green pass and tightening of controls in Italy

• South Africa, the doctor who discovered the variant: "Mild symptoms, but never seen before"

• G7: Omicron highly transmissible, urgent action needed

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November 30, 2021 Moderna's CEO, Stéphane Bancel, predicts a "substantial drop" in the effectiveness of current vaccines against Covid's Omicron variant while it will take months to develop new effective vaccines.

"I think in no way the effectiveness can be the same as we had with Delta," Bancel said in an interview with the Financial Times website. For Bancel, "a substantial decline" in the efficacy of the old vaccines is foreseeable: "I don't know how much because we have to wait for the data. But all the scientists I spoke to say that 'it won't be good'".

The CEO of Moderna, whose words had a strong impact on the markets, dropping stock exchanges and oil, expects to have reliable data on the effectiveness of the current vaccines and on the danger of the variant in a couple of weeks but it will take months before have mass production of new vaccines.

"Moderna and Pfizer can't produce billions of doses next week, it's mathematically impossible. But can we have the billions of doses by summer? Sure," Bancel said, predicting Moderna could produce 2-3 billion doses in 2022.

The map of the diffusion of the Omicron variant is rapidly updated, indicated by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the most recent of the 'variants of concern', the so-called Vocs, alongside the currently dominant one, the Delta, and the Alpha, Beta. and Gamma, slip into the background.

33 cases of the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) have been confirmed so far in Europe, announces the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (Ecdc), and the list of countries that record the genetic sequences of the new variant of the SarsCoV2 virus.

As regards cases in Europe, the reports received by the ECDC come from eight countries of the European Union and the European Economic Area: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal. All confirmed cases, the ECDC notes, have a history of travel to African countries, some of which have taken connecting flights to other destinations between Africa and Europe.

All cases for which information on severity is available were asymptomatic or with mild symptoms. The updated data of the Gisaid platform mean that 11 countries from five continents have so far deposited over 160 sequences of the Omicron variant. Most (114) come from South Africa, followed at a distance by Botswana (19). There are 5 sequences filed from Australia, as many from Hong Kong, 2 from Canada and 1 from Israel. The sequences arriving from Europe currently come from five countries, including Italy, with 5. Holland deposited 12, Great Britain 4. 1 Germany and 1 Belgium.

As of today, as announced yesterday by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Japan is blocking the entry of foreign visitors from all over the world to combat the spread of Omicron. But in the meantime, it has confirmed the first case of the Covid variant. The Kyodo agency reported, citing anonymous government sources.

"There is still no evidence that infection with Omicron causes more serious disease than the other variants," writes the Istituto Superiore di Sanità in a close-up published on its website . "At the moment - it says - it is not yet clear whether the Omicron variant is more transmissible than the others, including the Delta". 

The ISS reports that the number of positive people has grown in South Africa, where Omicron is circulating, but epidemiological studies are underway to understand if the cause is this variant or if other factors may have influenced the circulation of the virus. Preliminary data suggests that there is a higher rate of hospitalizations in South Africa, but this may be due to the overall increase in infected people rather than the specific infection with Omicron.

There is currently no information to suggest that the specific symptoms associated with this variant differ from those of the others. Initial cases of infection involve university students, young people who tend to have a milder disease, but it will take longer to understand the level of severity of the infection caused by Omicron (from a few days to a few weeks).

As for the swabs, the ISS adds that the normal tests already in use based on PCR are able to detect the infection even in the presence of the Omicron variant. Studies are underway to determine whether there is an impact on other types of tests, including rapid antigen tests. "

The variant - explains the ISS - was isolated for the first time in samples collected on 11 November in Botswana and on 14 November in South Africa. On November 26, WHO designated variant B.1.1.529 as 'Variant of Concern' (Voc), with the divariante name Omicron. The decision to declare it a VOC (variant of concern, ed) is due to the presence in the variant of different mutations that could have an impact on the behavior of the virus, also in terms of the severity of the disease or the ability to spread. The World Health Organization is working to estimate the possible impact of the new variant on the protection provided by vaccines and other preventive measures. Vaccines remain essential to reduce the risk of serious illness and death, "says the ISS.

We have "every reason to believe" that current vaccines and boosters will help protect against variants, including the new Omicron: and to say so is Anthony Fauci, director of the

and chief medical adviser to US President Joe Biden. Fauci, interviewed by CNN, reiterated the importance that Americans get vaccinated: "The unvaccinated need to be vaccinated and those who can have a booster dose must have it". Because experience has taught us that vaccines also work with variants to which they are not specifically targeted, such as the Delta variant: if you get a high enough level of antibodies, the protection extends to those variants as well. "" So - he added Jaws about the new omicron - we have every reason to believe, even if this is an extraordinarily unusual variant due to the number of mutations, that if you get the high antibody level with the normal booster of the normal vaccine,a good effect on the ability to protect against this variant. ”And“ there's no reason to believe it won't happen. ”Fauci said he couldn't predict whether the new variant will become the dominant variant in the US:“ We don't know. And this is why we are looking at what the trend is in South Africa. "

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) strengthened their recommendations against the background of fears related to the Omicron variant, stating that all adults aged 18 and over "should" receive a 'booster' of the anti-virus vaccine. COVID-19. Previously, this recommendation targeted the most vulnerable Americans, including those over 50, while it had left the option open for younger and healthier adults.

The UK government has decided to accept the recommendations of the independent consultancy body composed of scientists (the

) and to extend the vaccination campaign with third doses to address the spread of the new Omicron variant. According to the measures, the booster will be offered to all citizens between the ages of 18 and 39, while until now it had only been offered to the over 40s and those deemed vulnerable. Furthermore, third doses for all age groups can be administered no earlier than three months after the second dose (which reduces the current wait by three months). With these changes, about 13 million more people will be able to get vaccinated. So far, around 17.5 million people in the UK have received booster doses.

The fear for the Omicron variant returns to be felt, sinking the Asian stock exchanges and futures on European lists and on Wall Street.

Tokyo closed down by 1.6% and Seoul by 2.4%, Hong Kong, still open, lost 2.6%, while Shanghai and Shenzhen limited the drops to 0.2%.

Futures on Wall Street are also down, with the Dow Jones losing 1.2% and those on Europe, with Frankfurt losing 1.6% and London 1.2%.

To bring down the stock exchanges were the words of the CEO of Moderna, Stéphane Bancel, who, to the Financial Times, said he expected a "substantial decline" in the effectiveness of current vaccines while it will take months to have a production of new vaccines.