Modern Covid Vaccine Effective Against Eris, Fornax Variants

moderna’s The new Covid vaccine generated a robust immune response against the now-dominant Eris variant and another rapidly spreading strain of the virus in an early clinical trial, the biotech company said Thursday.

The updated injection is designed to target the omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant, but the results suggest that the injection may still be effective against newer variants of the virus that are gaining ground across the country. That includes Eris and another variant nicknamed Fornax, both of which are also descendants of the omicron virus variant.

The Moderna vaccine and the new injections of Pfizer and novavax they are scheduled to roll out in a few weeks, pending potential approvals from the US Food and Drug Administration.

Meanwhile, Covid-related hospitalizations driven by Eris and other variants continue to accelerate, but remain below the summer peak that depleted hospitals around this time last year.

Eris, also known as EG.5, accounted for 17.3% of all cases earlier this month, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The World Health Organization designated Eris as a “variant of interest,” meaning it will be monitored for mutations that could make it more severe.

Fornax, or FL 1.5.1, is also beginning to rise in parts of the US. It accounted for 8.6% of all cases nationwide earlier this month, the CDC said.

A Pfizer spokesman said Thursday that the company’s updated Covid vaccine effectively neutralized XBB.1.5 and Eris, among other variants, in a recent test in mice.