London - Faced with a vaccine-evading Omicron variant, Oxford University and AstraZeneca have stated that work on a Covid dose that particularly targets the new strain. According to sources, all major pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, and AstraZeneca, announced preparations to examine and adapt their vaccines to the severely mutated Omicron form early this month.

"We have taken first steps in generating an updated vaccination in case it is needed, as we have with many past varieties of concern, and together with our partners AstraZeneca," Sandy Douglas, a research group head at Oxford, said, citing a source. "Adenovirus-based vaccines [like Oxford/ AstraZeneca's] might in theory be utilised to respond to any novel variant more quickly than some may have previously realised," he noted.

The protection provided by the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, known in India as Covishield, reduces after three months of taking two doses, according to a study published in The Lancet on Monday. According to the findings of a group of researchers conducted by the University of Edinburgh, booster programmes are required to assist sustain protection against serious disease.

Bharat Biotech seeks nodes for Phase 3 trials of intranasal vaccine

Study finds Sinopharm's booster dose found weaker against Omicron

Study reveals Omicron has greater capacity to bind with human cells