U.S. FDA evaluating effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against Omicron

(Reuters) – The U.S. Food & Drug Administration said on Tuesday it was evaluating the effectiveness of authorized COVID-19 vaccines against the Omicron coronavirus variant and expects to have more information in the next few weeks.

The agency is currently evaluating the vaccines to see if and how well they work against the variant, first detected in South Africa, Acting Commissioner Janet Woodcock said in a statement.

She said if the review shows a modification to the current vaccines is needed, the agency and companies will work together to develop and test such a modification quickly.

The new variant has sparked worries around the world that it could resist vaccinations and prolong the nearly two-year-old COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. health regulatory agency maintained that the authorised vaccines remain highly effective at preventing COVID-19 and serious clinical outcomes associated with the infection and urged people to get vaccinated.

The FDA is also evaluating the potential impact of the variant on the currently available diagnostics and therapeutics. It said a preliminary review showed that high volume PCR and antigen tests, widely used in the United States, have low likelihood of being impacted by Omicron.

(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)