Switzerland approves vaccine that targets two Covid variants
The Swiss medicaments regulator Swissmedic has given temporary approval for a Covid-19 vaccine from Moderna that has been adapted to give protection against two different strains of the virus.
The ‘Spikevax Bivalent Original/Omicron’ is designed to be administered in two 0.5ml doses.
It contains 25 micrograms of the original Spikevax mRNA-1273 plus 25 micrograms of a different mRNA that targets the Omicron variant (BA.1 and BA.4/5).
On Monday, Swissmedic saidExternal link that in trials the dual vaccine had achieved higher antibody concentrations against the Omicron variant than the original Spikevax, “with comparable side-effects”.
Those side-effects can include irritation, redness or swelling at the injection site, fatigue, headache, chills or nausea.
The Human Medicines Expert Committee has also given its separate seal of approval for the new vaccine, said Swissmedic.
More
Coronavirus: the situation in Switzerland
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.