Markets jolted as Moderna says COVID shots weaker against Omicron

HONG KONG/SYDNEY, Nov 30 (Reuters) – The chief executive of drugmaker Moderna (MRNA.O) set off fresh alarm bells in financial markets on Tuesday with a warning that existing COVID-19 vaccines would be less effective against the Omicron variant than they have been against the Delta variant.

Major European stock markets fell around 1.5% in early trade, Tokyo’s Nikkei index closed down 1.6%, crude oil futures shed more than 3%, and the Australian dollar hit a one-year low as Stephane Bancel’s comments spurred fears that vaccine resistance may prolong the pandemic.

“There is no world, I think, where (the effectiveness) is the same level . . . we had with Delta,” Bancel told the Financial Times.

“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. read more

Balancing that, however, European Medicines Agency (EMA) executive director Emer Cooke told the European Parliament that even if the new variant becomes more widespread, existing vaccines will continue to provide protection. read more

Moderna did not reply to a Reuters request for comment, or say when it expects to have data on the effectiveness of its vaccine on Omicron, which the World Health Organization (WHO) says carries a very high risk of infection surges.

Bancel had earlier said on broadcaster CNBC that it could take months to begin shipping a vaccine designed for the new variant.

The WHO and scientists have also said it could take weeks to understand whether Omicron is likely to cause severe illness or escape protection against immunity induced by vaccines. read more

Cooke said that lab tests for “cross neutralisation” would take about two weeks. If there were a need to change COVID-19 vaccines, new ones could be approved within three or four months, she added.

“Vaccination will likely still keep you out of the hospital,” said John Wherry, director of the Penn Institute for Immunology in Philadelphia.

Moderna and fellow drugmakers BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson are working on vaccines that specifically target Omicron in case existing shots are not effective against it. Moderna has also been testing a higher dose of its existing booster. read more

Uncertainty about the new variant has triggered global alarm, with border closures casting a shadow over a nascent economic recovery from the two-year-old pandemic. read more

News of its emergence wiped roughly $2 trillion off global stocks on Friday, but some calm had returned on Monday.

First detected in southern Africa a week ago, Omicron is known to have spread to over a dozen countries.

Japan, the world’s third largest economy, confirmed its first case on Tuesday, in a traveller from Namibia. Australia found that a person with Omicron had visited a busy shopping centre in Sydney while probably infectious.

BORDER CONTROLS

Countries around the world have tightened border controls in an attempt to prevent a recurrence of last year’s strict lockdowns and steep economic downturns. read more

Britain and the United States have both pushed their booster programmes.

England also made face masks compulsory once again on Tuesday in shops and on public transport. International arrivals will have to self-isolate until they get a negative result in a PCR test for viral DNA.

Australia has delayed the reopening of its international borders by two weeks, less than 36 hours before foreign students and skilled migrants were to be allowed back.

In Germany, a hotspot, the average seven-day infection rate fell slightly for the first time in three weeks as officials considered imposing tougher measures.

In a boost for authorities, the Constitutional Court ruled that earlier lockdown measures had not violated children’s rights to schooling or other protected freedoms.

The global curbs on travellers from southern Africa, where the virus was first identified, have highlighted the inequality of vaccine distribution, which may have given the virus more opportunities to mutate.

“The people of Africa cannot be blamed for the immorally low level of vaccinations available in Africa – and they should not be penalised for identifying and sharing crucial science and health information with the world,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. read more

The passenger liner Europa was docking in Cape Town on Tuesday in what was meant to be the official start of the first cruise ship season in South Africa’s top tourist hub since the pandemic.

After Omicron was discovered while they were at sea, many passengers were expected to fly straight home.

India, home to the world’s largest vaccine maker, has approved supplies of COVID-19 vaccines to many African countries and said it stands ready to “expeditiously” send more. China too has pledged 1 billion doses to the continent. read more

Reporting by Marius Zaharia in Hong Kong, Renju Jose in Sydney, Tom Westbrook in Singapore and Reuters bureaux worldwide; Writing by Himani Sarkar and Kevin Liffey; Editing by Shri Navratnam and Andrew Cawthorne

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