Moderna to make two different omicron boosters: one for US, another for UK, EU

Enlarge / A vial containing Moderna COVID-19 booster vaccine at a vaccination center. (credit: Getty | SOPA Images)

The type of COVID-19 booster dose you get later this year could depend on where you live.

Vaccine-maker Moderna is working up two omicron-targeting boosters for different countries. If the company's plans pan out, it will mark the first time that COVID-19 vaccines would target different versions of the pandemic coronavirus in different places. Until now, all vaccines, including boosters, have targeted the ancestral strain of SARS-CoV-2, first identified in Wuhan, China.

Both of Moderna's next-gen booster candidates are bivalent vaccines, which target both the ancestral virus and some version of omicron. One booster option targets BA.1-the version of omicron that first burst out of South Africa last November, causing a towering wave of infection in the US in January 2022. That BA.1-based next-gen booster could be available in the EU, UK, Australia, and elsewhere later this month or early August. Moderna's other booster option targets BA.4/5 and is intended for use in the US. However, it likely won't be ready until early to mid-fall.

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