A third dose of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine should offer protection against the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

The drug company says lab tests show a half-dose booster increased the level of neutralizing antibodies able to fight the variant by 37-times.

A full dose booster was stronger, resulting inn an 83-fold raise in antibody levels, although with an increase in the usual side-effects.

In releasing the preliminary lab data, Moderna points out it has not yet undergone scientific review.

Pfizer’s testing found its vaccine triggered a similarly large jump in antibodies.

Antibody levels predict how well a vaccine might prevent infection but they’re only one layer of the immune system’s defences.

Both drug companies are working on coming up with shots to better match the Omicron variant in case they are needed.