Vaccine for Omicron likely in 6 months: SII’s Poonawala

MUMBAI: Pune-based Serum Institute of India is working on an Omicron-specific vaccine for Covid-19 with its US partner, Novavax. The vaccine is expected to be rolled out within six months.
The vaccine will be specific to the BA5 sub-variant of the Omicron strain, SII CEO Adar Poonawalla told a TV channel, adding that he thought “this vaccine is important as a booster”.
It is important for India to boost protection with an Omicron-specific vaccine, he said, pointing out that Omicron is “not mild”, as generally supposed. “Although the new variant may not cause a lot of hospitalisations, it is very serious if you get it,” he said.
Meanwhile, the US company submitted on Monday an application to the US FDA for emergency use authorisation for its protein-based Covid vaccine as a homologous and heterologous booster in adults.