A team of Washington University physicians is helping conduct a nationwide Moderna clinical trial to study the safety and effectiveness of an omicron-specific vaccine for COVID-19.
The highly transmissible variant emerged in November and caused in the St. Louis region and around the country.
Dr. Rachel Presti, who specializes in infectious diseases and leads the COVID-19 clinical trial team in St. Louis, said the work involves the latest branch of an ongoing study to test whether tailored shots may better reduce the spread of the coronavirus.
Presti said the current vaccine still works well at preventing hospitalization and death, but with omicron now around the country, she said the team wants to test whether a new vaccine could reduce infections.
鈥淭he question really is, if you had a vaccine that鈥檚 more targeted to omicron, would it work better? And we don't really know,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t may be that the new virus is just so infectious that you can鈥檛 get an immune response that鈥檚 going to prevent infection.鈥�
Similar to the flu, the coronavirus is constantly mutating, and Presti said it may be better to get a more targeted shot at certain times of the year.
鈥淚f [the coronavirus] keeps putting people in the hospital, then we need a vaccine that protects them from the current virus,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e might do something like the flu vaccine where we get it right before the cold and flu season shows up.鈥�
Presti said physicians are still determining what the best solution will be moving forward.
The team is about three weeks into its research and is still seeking participants who have received a Moderna vaccine more than six months ago and have not received a booster.
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