Moderna Inc. said on Monday it had dosed the first participant in an early-stage study of a new COVID-19 vaccine candidate that could potentially be stored and shipped in refrigerators instead of freezers. We just announced that the first participants have been dosed in the Phase 1 study of mRNA-1283, our next generation COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Read more: https://t.co/jRR5FLAgiW pic.twitter.com/ONXeHSTCjI —@moderna_txModerna also plans to evaluate the new vaccine, mRNA-1283, as a potential booster shot in future studies. Last week, Moderna began dosing the first participants in a study testing COVID-19 booster vaccine candidates targeting the variant, known as B.1.351, that was first detected in South Africa. The booster vaccine candidates, designated mRNA-1273.351, will be tested in a trial of both a variant-specific shot and a multivalent shot, according to the company's announcement.

Source: CBC News March 15, 2021 17:26 UTC