Scientists in the Australian state of Victoria have come up with the nation’s first mRNA vaccine, which could effectively combat new COVID-19 variants, including Omicron. The new vaccine, developed by Monash University’s Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS), pharmaceutical manufacturer IDT Australia, and the Doherty Institute, was created in Melbourne within five months. This vaccine has the ability to rapidly adjust its composition in response to emerging virus mutations, which is particularly important as new strains continue to emerge, including the latest variant, Omicron discovered in South Africa, according to Professor of Pharmaceutical Biology Colin Pouton, who led the MIPS team that developed the vaccine. “The new variant Omicron has an unprecedented number of mutations in its receptor-binding domain. How concerned we should be about this variant remains to be seen,” he said. “But our RBD mRNA vaccine program is perfectly suited to producing a specific vaccine to protect against this …