Omicron variant: Can we adapt covid-19 vaccines fast enough to make a difference?

Vaccine-makers are already adapting vaccines to fight the omicron coronavirus variant, but it will probably already have swept the world by the time these arrive

By Michael Le Page

Is omicron better at evading existing vaccines than older coronavirus variants? Vaccine-makers are racing to produce omicron-specific versions, just in case. But if omicron is as transmissible as some fear, it could rapidly sweep around the world, triggering another wave of covid-19 cases before people can be protected with an updated vaccine.

mRNA vaccines can be updated more quickly than other types of vaccine, and the two main manufacturers of the covid-19 mRNA vaccines, Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech, say they will …