Effective in early trials, an Army vaccine could protect against all coronaviruses. Learn how it works and when it could be available.

The rise of the COVID-19 omicron variant and resultant spike in COVID-19 cases have redefined the meaning of "fully vaccinated." Many experts are now talking about yearly COVID booster shots or variant-specific vaccines. But what if there were a universal coronavirus vaccine that protected against omicron and all new COVID-19 variants? The US Army now has that goal in sight.

The Army recently announced that its pan-coronavirus vaccine, the spike ferritin nanoparticle COVID-19 vaccine (aka SpFN) had completed Phase 1 of human trials with positive results. Dr. Kayvon Modjarrad, director of infectious diseases at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) and co-inventor of SpFN, told Defense One, "We're testing our vaccine against all the different variants, including omicron," the strain causing breakthrough infections even in people who have received booster shots.

SpFN still needs to undergo Phase 2 and 3 human trials, though, to test its efficacy and safety in comparison to current treatments, Modjarrad said.

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