Pfizer, Moderna urge calm as they launch tests of vaccines against mutated COVID-19

After a mutated, fast-spreading variant of COVID-19 in the U.K. disrupted global travel over the weekend, a troubling question emerged: Will the new vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna work against this scary new strain of the virus?

Now the two companies, along with Pfizer’s COVID-19 partner BioNTech, are rushing to calm a nervous public. They’re launching new studies designed to prove their mRNA-based shots will fend off the new coronavirus strain, while simultaneously expressing confidence this new vaccine technology is ideal for protecting against rapidly mutating viruses.