On Tuesday, the CEO of drugmaker Moderna raised new concerns in financial markets by stating that existing COVID-19 vaccinations will be less effective against the Omicron form than against the Delta type.
As Stephane Bancel’s statements sparked fears that vaccine resistance could extend the epidemic, major European financial markets plummeted over 1.5 percent in early trade, Tokyo’s Nikkei index lost 1.6 percent, crude oil futures fell more than 3%, and the Australian currency touched a one-year low.
“I don’t believe there is a world where (effectiveness) is at the same level as we had with Delta,” Bancel told reporters.
“I believe it will be a material drop.” I’m just not sure how much it will cost because we need to wait for the data. But every scientist I’ve talked to says, “This isn’t going to work.”
However, European Medicines Agency (EMA) executive director Emer Cooke told the European Parliament that existing vaccines will continue to provide protection even if the new version becomes more popular.
Moderna did not respond to a request for comment from reporters, nor did it specify when it expected to have data on the efficiency of its vaccine against Omicron, which the WHO warns poses a very high risk of infection surges.
Bancel has previously stated on CNBC that developing and shipping a vaccine for the new strain may take months.
The WHO and scientists have also stated that determining if Omicron is likely to cause serious illness or to evade vaccine-induced immunity could take weeks.
Cooke estimated that “cross-neutralization” lab testing would take two weeks. She noted that if new COVID-19 vaccines are needed, they may be approved in three to four months.
“Vaccination will almost certainly keep you out of the hospital,” said John Wherry, director of Philadelphia’s Penn Institute for Immunology.
In the event that existing vaccines are ineffective against Omicron, Moderna, BioNTech, and Johnson & Johnson are working on vaccines that specifically target it. Moderna has also been experimenting with a larger dose of its current booster.
Border closures have cast a shadow over a fledgling economic recovery from the two-year-old pandemic, while uncertainty about the new type has sparked global worry.
On Friday, news of its arrival knocked $2 trillion off global stock markets, but by Monday, things had calmed down.
Omicron was first discovered a week ago in southern Africa and has already spread to over a dozen countries.
On Tuesday, Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, announced its first case, which involved a Namibian traveler. A person with Omicron had attended a large shopping district in Sydney while most likely infectious, according to Australia.
CONTROLS AT THE BORDER
Countries all across the world have tightened border restrictions in an attempt to avoid the draconian lockdowns and severe economic downturns that occurred last year.
Both the United Kingdom and the United States have promoted their booster programs.
Face masks were also made mandatory in shops and on public transportation in England on Tuesday. International visitors will have to self-isolate until a PCR test for virus DNA yields a negative result.
Australia has postponed the reopening of its international crossings by two weeks, less than 36 hours before overseas students and skilled migrants were scheduled to return.
The average seven-day infection rate in Germany, a hotspot, dipped marginally for the first time in three weeks as officials pondered stronger measures.
The Constitutional Court concluded that earlier lockout measures did not violate children’s rights to education or other protected freedoms, giving authorities a boost.
The global ban on travelers from southern Africa, where the virus was originally discovered, has emphasized the inequity in vaccine distribution, which may have allowed the virus to mutate more easily.
“The African people cannot be condemned for the immorally low level of immunizations accessible in Africa – and they should not be punished for recognizing and sharing critical science and health information with the rest of the world,” said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
On Tuesday, the passenger liner Europa docked in Cape Town, marking the formal start of the first cruise ship season in South Africa’s major tourist destination since the pandemic.
Many passengers were anticipated to fly home immediately once Omicron was detected while they were at sea.
India, which is home to the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, has approved COVID-19 vaccine shipments to a number of African countries and says it is ready to send more “immediately.” China has also pledged 1 billion pills to Africa.
