Washington, December 24: Moderna Inc said it expects that the immunity induced by its coronavirus vaccine would be protective against the new strain of COVID-19 reported in UK. According to a Reuters report, the company said it planned to run tests to confirm the vaccine's activity against a new strain.

The British government on Wednesday said that it is mulling over the idea whether to impose strictest restrictions as the new variant which is reported to be 70 percent more transmissible sweeps the country. COVID-19 Variant: Second 'More Transmissible Strain' of Coronavirus Linked to South Africa Detected in UK, Says Matt Hancock.

Moderna Expects Its COVID-19 Vaccine to Protect Against UK Coronavirus Variant:

Moderna said it expects its vaccine, which was recently granted the US emergency use authorization, to be protective against the UK variant based on data to date. The company further said that it would perform additional tests of the vaccine to confirm its expectation.

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock, while speaking to reporters on Wednesday, said the new strain of the virus is suspected to be brought in by passengers who returned from other countries, more specifically South Africa.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 24, 2020 07:25 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).