Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Moderna, a Coronavirus vaccine maker, on Tuesday raised alarm that the existing COVID-19 vaccines might be less effective in combating the new strain of the lethal virus, Omicron.
Bancel also added that there might be a need to modify vaccines that would combat the new strain of the contagion, a comment that has sparked tension across global markets as it means people who had already been fully vaccinated in countries are likely to require booster shots again to inoculate themselves against Omicron, The New Diplomat reports.
Following the emergence of the new variant, many medical experts had raised alarm on the number of mutations associated with the variant. Many had said Omicron variant harbours a large number of the mutations than other variants.
The Moderna CEO in his explanation said the high number of mutations could partly be responsible for the inefficacy of the current vaccines in combating the new variant.
“I think it’s going to be a material drop. I just don’t know how much because we need to wait for the data. But all the scientists I’ve talked to … are like ‘this is not going to be good’,” Bancel said during an interview.
Following the doubts on the effectiveness of the vaccines against the new variant, stock markets around the world have started falling.
The U.S. stock futures slumped and Asian markets retreated. Markets in Europe also fell. U.S. oil prices dropped back below $70 a barrel, while gold rose and risk-sensitive currencies such as the Australian dollar weakened against the greenback.
Recall markets had plunged on Friday after investors were rattled by the discovery of the new variant, with the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) 100 index suffering its biggest drop in more than a year.
Brent crude dropped 3.8pc after falling as low as $70.22 – its lowest level since the end of August.
First reported on Nov. 24 in South Africa, Omicron has since spread to over a dozen countries. The uncertainty about the new variant has triggered global alarm, with many countries imposing travel restrictions on countries in the southern part of Africa.
