Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Medicine is recruiting volunteers to take part in a new study aimed at assessing the efficacy of the Moderna bivalent Covid-19 vaccine in protecting against new sub-variants of the Omicron virus and whether or not it should be recommended as an alternative booster shot in Thailand.
In an announcement made online by virologist Yong Poovorawan, the Moderna bivalent is now being recommended in Western countries as a seasonal booster shot considering its proven protection against the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron sub-variants as well the older strains of the Covid-19 virus.
In Thailand, however, the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-lineages had already been replaced by the XBB sub-variant, particularly the XBB.1.16 which is considered one of the dominant strains of the coronavirus at the moment, the chief of the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology at Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Medicine said.
That explains why this study is needed to examine to what extent the Moderna bivalent is effective in protecting against new Covid-19 infections in the country, said Dr Yong.
"Those who are interested in becoming volunteers in this study project must be 18 years old and older, physically fit and without any history of suffering a serious health condition or allergy to Covid-19 vaccines," he said.
Prospective volunteers are also required to already have at least two injections of the Covid-19 vaccine six months before taking part in this new study, and in case they are people who have been infected with the Covid-19 virus, they must leave at least three months between the last infection and the time they will receive the Moderna bivalent in this study, he said.
All volunteers will have to agree to have their blood drawn for testing to assess the levels of their immunity against the dominant strains, including the XBB.1.16, in about four weeks after the injection, he said.
In other news, Dr Opas Karnkawinpong, permanent secretary for public health, said the rate of new Covid-19 infections now appears to have slowed down in the past three weeks following a spike in new infections.
Most of the new Covid-19 cases now involve people who have not received any Covid-19 vaccine, he said.
Despite the decrease in new infections, the Ministry of Public Health will be closely monitoring the Covid-19 situation until the next school break, the New Year festival and the end of the cold season, he said.
At this point, there's nothing to worry about concerning the infection situation, he said.
