Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel Says COVID-19 Vaccine May Be Less Effective Against Omicron Variant

Modern CEO Stephane Bancel. (Wikimedia Commons/Brenda Bancel)

JAKARTA - The chief executive of vaccine manufacturer Moderna said a COVID-19 vaccine is unlikely to be as effective against the Omicron variant of the coronavirus as before, sparking fresh concerns in financial markets about the trajectory of the pandemic.

"There is no world, I think, where (effectiveness) is at the same level as Delta," Moderna Chief Executive (CEO) Stéphane Bancel told the Financial Times in an interview.

"I think it's going to be a material decline. I just don't know how much because we need to wait for the data. But all the scientists I spoke to, were like 'this is not going to be okay,'" he continued.

Vaccine resistance could lead to more illness and hospitalizations, prolonging the pandemic, with his comments triggering the sale of growth-exposed assets such as oil, stocks and the Australian dollar.

Bancel added that the high number of mutations in the spike protein that the virus uses to infect human cells means it is likely that the basic foundation of current vaccines will need to be modified.

Previously, Bancel said on CNBC that it could take months to start shipping a vaccine that works against Omicron.

To note, fear of a new variant, despite the lack of information on its severity, has prompted the delay of some plans to reopen the economy and the re-imposition of some travel and movement restrictions.

Previously, the Omicron variant was likely to spread internationally, posing a 'very high' global risk of a spike in infections that could have "severe consequences" in some areas, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday.

The UN health agency urged its 194 member states to speed up vaccination of high-priority groups and, in anticipation of an increasing number of cases, to "ensure mitigation plans are in place" to maintain essential health services.

"The Omicron variant has an unprecedented number of spike mutations, some of which are concerned about their potential impact on the trajectory of the pandemic," the WHO said.

The WHO further explained that to date no deaths related to Omicron have been reported, although further research is needed to assess Omicron's potential to escape vaccine-induced immunity protection and previous infections.