The American pharmaceutical company, Moderna, announced yesterday, Wednesday, that it will begin clinical trials of a vaccine for the mutant Omicron, while Germany recorded a record number of infections exceeding 200,000 in one day.

The American company said that 600 adults will participate in the experiments, half of whom received two doses of Moderna's anti-Covid-19 vaccine at least 6 months ago, while the other half received two doses in addition to a booster dose that Moderna had previously obtained a license for, according to a company statement.

With these trials, Moderna aims to evaluate the Omicron booster dose for a third or fourth dose.

The company also disclosed in its statement the effectiveness results of the previously licensed dose against Omicron.

Moderna aims through these trials to evaluate the specific Omicron (European) booster dose.

Experiences and notes

She said that after 6 months of giving the booster dose, the level of antibodies decreased 6 times compared to its peak after 29 days of administration, but it remained detectable in all participants in the experiments.

"We are reassured by the continued presence of antibodies against Omicron 6 months after the current booster dose," Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in the statement.

"However, given the long-term threat posed by omicron escaping from the immune system, we are developing an omicron-specific booster vaccine and are pleased to embark on this part of our phase 2 study."

Moderna's statement comes a day after rival companies Pfizer and Biotech announced that they had started clinical trials of the Omicron mutant.

Moderna: 600 adults will participate in the trials, half of whom received two doses of Moderna's vaccine against COVID-19 (Anatolia)

Record

In Germany, the health authorities set a new record in the number of daily infections with the Corona virus today, Thursday, exceeding the barrier of 200,000 cases for the first time, while the country is debating whether to impose compulsory vaccination.

The Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases recorded 203,136 cases of corona in the past 24 hours, an increase of 69,600 cases over the same day in the previous week.

On Wednesday, lawmakers debated whether to impose mandatory doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, while protesters gathered outside Parliament.

About 75% of Germans received at least one dose of the vaccine, which is a lower percentage than in other European countries such as France, Italy and Spain, where the similar rates reached 80%, 83% and 86%.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz supported compulsory vaccinations for those over 18, but his coalition government is divided on the issue, and the German chancellor has asked them to vote according to their conscience.

In Britain, a study published by Imperial College London showed that about two-thirds of people who were infected with Covid-19 in this January said that they had been infected with the virus before, meaning that it was not the first time that they had contracted Covid-19.

Denmark plans to lift restrictions (Al Jazeera)

Restrictions and Procedures

This comes as Denmark announced, on Wednesday, its desire to lift all restrictions imposed internally to confront the outbreak of Covid-19, starting from the first of next February, considering that the high vaccination rate in it is sufficient to confront the severity of the mutant Omicron, despite the country recording record numbers of Covid-19 infections.

For its part, Austria announced Wednesday that it will end the mandatory quarantine of non-vaccinated people against Covid-19, while preparing to become the first country in the European Union to impose mandatory vaccinations starting next week.

Last November, the Austrian government ordered people who were not vaccinated against Covid-19 or who had recently recovered from their infection to stay at home and not go out except for specific necessities such as going to the workplace, at a time when the country was facing a surge in infections.

In Armenia, the authorities announced that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan entered quarantine after he was diagnosed with COVID-19.

He and his family were previously infected in June 2020.

Australia is witnessing a rise in the number of injuries (European)

mortality and decline

In Australia, deaths fell on Thursday, a day after setting a record during the pandemic, while the number of patients in hospitals remained flat, raising hopes that the worst outbreak in the country may have reached its peak.

Officials announced 59 deaths, down from 87 on Wednesday, the highest number recorded since the start of the pandemic.

Two states have not released their numbers yet.

The number of Corona patients in hospitals has remained steady at about 5,000 in the past few days, down from a peak of nearly 5,400, with admissions declining for the second day in a row in New South Wales, the hardest-hit state.

While the Omicron mutant is a milder strain, the sheer number of cases puts an enormous strain on hospitals, resulting in staff shortages.

In the Arab world, the UAE will lift the entry and transit ban, starting from Saturday, on travelers who have recently visited South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia or 8 other African countries.

The National Authority for Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Management said late yesterday evening, Wednesday, that it will lift the ban on those who visited certain African countries during the two weeks prior to arrival, which it imposed due to the spread of the mutated Omicron of the Corona virus.