Moderna's COVID vaccine expected to provide immunity for at least a year

The drugmaker said it was confident that the messenger RNA (mRNA) technology it used was well suited to deploy a vaccine based on the new variant of the coronavirus which has emerged in a handful of countries.

The company’s vaccine, mRNA-1273, uses synthetic mRNA to mimic the surface of the coronavirus and teach the immune system to recognize and neutralize it.

Moderna said in December it would run tests to confirm the vaccine’s activity against any strain.