Johnson & Johnson To Modify Covid-19 Vaccine For Other Coronavirus Variants

Johnson & Johnson is preparing for multiple next-generation versions of its COVID-19 vaccine to offer extra protection against new coronavirus strains.

J&J CEO Alex Gorsky said on Thursday that he hoped J&J's recently approved vaccine and other existing Covid-19 vaccinations would offer some defense against new strains. Still, people could need that booster shots or updated versions of original vaccines.

"We're working on several next generations of vaccines," J&J Chief Executive Alex Gorsky said Thursday during an online discussion, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The need for booster shots or modified vaccines, according to Gorsky, will focus on how varieties develop in the coming months. But he the company is already preparing.

Johnson & Johnson, headquartered in New Jersey, is now testing if two doses of its vaccine are more effective than the already approved single-dose regimen. The results will be available later this year.

J&J executives previously stated that they were working on a new vaccine to target the variant discovered in South Africa. But it was unclear which variants the vaccine would target in the future.

Other experts are testing other variant-targeted vaccines as a booster shot or a "multivalent" vaccine that targets different strains.

Mr. Gorsky said during an online debate organized by the Economic Club of New York that certain virus variants are more alarming. He explained that the mutations result in fundamental adjustments that can affect, for example, the rate of infection or potentially even morbidity or mortality.

Moderna Inc. is also working to produce and research adapted vaccines that can better target other COVID-19 variants.

U.S. regulators approved J&J's initial Covid-19 vaccine in late February. Experts revealed the shot to be 66% successful in shielding people against mild to severe COVID-19 cases in an international sample in a late-stage experiment.

However, its effectiveness was low in the South African variant of the trial. The variant, also called as B.1.351, has proven ineffective to vaccines intended to combat an earlier form of the virus that circulated widely last year.