MODERNA and Pfizer announced yesterday that their modified Covid-19 vaccines have demonstrated robust effectiveness in tests against the highly mutated BA.2.86 sub-variant of the coronavirus, Reuters reported.

Moderna said its vaccine resulted in an 8.7-fold increase in neutralising antibodies against BA.2.86, nicknamed “Pirola”, compared to the natural antibody response in untreated people, in clinical trials. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are monitoring this variant closely.