American biotechnology company Moderna announced Monday, 20 December, that preliminary data suggests its COVID-19 booster shot appears to increase antibody levels against the Omicron coronavirus variant.

The currently authorised 50-microgram booster of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine mRNA-1273 increased neutralising antibody levels against Omicron about 37-fold compared to pre-boost levels, and a 100-microgram booster dose increased neutralising antibody levels about 83-fold, Xinhua news agency quoted the company as saying.

But there was a trend toward slightly more frequent adverse reactions following the 100-microgram booster dose relative to the authorised 50-microgram booster dose, said the company.

The Omicron variant, which is possibly more contagious than the Delta variant, had been found in at least 47 US states as of Sunday, 19 December, since the first case in the country was detected in California on 1 December.

(This story was published from a syndicated feed. Only the headline and picture has been edited by FIT)