The highly contagious omicron variant and resultant huge spike in COVID-19 cases have many experts talking about yearly boosters or variant-specific vaccines. But what if there were a universal coronavirus vaccine that protected against omicron and all new COVID-19 variants? Several institutes and universities are researching “pan-coronavirus” vaccines, but it’s the US Army who’s made the biggest news so far with effective data in early trials.
In December, the US Army announced that its pan-coronavirus vaccine, the spike ferritin nanoparticle COVID-19 vaccine (aka SpFN) had completed Phase 1 of human trials with positive results. Dr. Kayvon Modjarrad, director of infectious diseases at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) and co-inventor of SpFN, told Defense One, “We’re testing our vaccine against all the different variants, including omicron,” the strain causing breakthrough infections even in people who have received booster shots.
SpFN still needs to undergo Phase 2 and 3 human trials, though, to test its efficacy and safety in comparison to current treatments, Modjarrad said.
We’ll share what we know about pan-coronavirus vaccines and the Army’s COVID-19 vaccine, including how it works and when it could become available.
Read more at CNET.