Washington, Nov. 27 -- American pharma company Moderna said on Friday it is studying two booster candidates designed to anticipate mutations similar to the Omicron COVID-19 variant discovered in South Africa this week.

"Moderna is already studying two multi-valent booster candidates in the clinic that were designed to anticipate mutations such as those that have emerged in the Omicron variant," the company said in a statement.

The new variant-B.1.1.52-was first detected in southern Africa.

This mutant variant has led to a surge in infections in South Africa and other countries in the southern part of the continent.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from India Blooms....