New Omicron vaccine could be ready in six weeks, BioNtech says

Sean Marett, chief commercial officer with BioNtech, which innovated the mRNA Covid-19 vaccine, said work had started on a new vaccine, but that it will be decided in the next week whether it will be needed

“So far, we haven’t changed our vaccine, because it has held up against all the existing strains up until the point of discovery of Omicron, which we are now testing,” Sean Marett, chief commercial officer with BioNtech, said

A new vaccine for the Omicron Covid-19 variant could be ready in just six weeks, with the first batch dispatched within 100 days, a leading BioNtech executive has told the Business Post.

It comes as Ireland braces for the impact of Omicron, as preliminary studies from South Africa indicate it is reinfecting individuals at three times the rate of Delta, suggesting some level of immune escape.

It also appears to be more transmissible, with cases ...