黎明时分新冠肺炎·疫情，疫苗制造商竞相设计一种与新病毒遗传密码完全匹配的疫苗。他们的努力取得了成功，在创纪录的时间内生产出了高效疫苗。
但是这种病毒继续进化成新的变异体，每个变异体都有稍微不同的遗传密码。尽管目前的疫苗仍然可以很好地应对新的变种，他们不再是绝配。
辉瑞和Moderna等疫苗制造商目前正在探索调整加强注射，以匹配目前占主导地位的奥米克龙变种，但美国政府正在积极寻求一种不同的方法:一种对任何新冠肺炎变种都同样有效的泛冠状病毒疫苗。
“自2020年9月以来，已经有五个令人担忧的新型冠状病毒变种——阿尔法、贝塔、伽马、德尔塔，现在是当前的奥米克隆，”安东尼·福奇博士在周三的白宫工作队简报会上说。“因此，显然需要创新的方法。”
负责国家过敏和传染病研究所的福奇已经向几个学术机构发放了4300万美元的研究补助金，以支持泛冠状病毒疫苗的开发，这种疫苗有时被称为“通用”冠状病毒疫苗。
科学家们说，这一想法是为了创造一种既能作为通才又能作为专家的疫苗。一种泛冠状病毒疫苗将使用病毒遗传密码的特征来设计，这些特征在所有不同版本的病毒中普遍共享，希望任何新版本都会出现。
几个研究小组已经在研究泛冠状病毒疫苗，包括加州理工学院、杜克大学、华盛顿大学、波士顿布里格姆妇女医院和麦迪逊威斯康星大学的科学家。
Moderna首席执行官斯特凡·班塞尔(Stéphane Bancel)周三在一份声明中表示，该公司可能会将omicron特异性助推器纳入其“多价”助推器计划，该计划寻求创造一种能够对抗至少两种主要变体的单发助推器。
但是沃尔特·里德陆军研究所的科学家可以说是走得最远的。陆军疫苗似乎在猴子身上效果良好，目前正在人类志愿者的第一阶段研究中进行安全性测试。
在…里沃尔特·里德实验室内部的罕见景象去年，美国广播公司新闻记者鲍勃·伍德拉夫采访了一组陆军科学家，他们希望他们的候选疫苗不仅能对抗新冠肺炎病毒变种，还能对抗相关的冠状病毒，比如分别导致2003年和2012年非典和中东呼吸综合征爆发的冠状病毒。
但是设计一种泛冠状病毒疫苗并不容易。科学家表示，可能需要几个月甚至几年的时间才能找到一种对多种冠状病毒株同样有效的疫苗。
福奇说:“我不想让任何人认为泛冠状病毒疫苗真的会在一两个月内出现。”。目前的疫苗大大降低了住院和严重疾病的风险，即使是针对像omicron这样的新变种。至关重要的是，它们现在已经上市了。
“不要等着接受你的初级疫苗方案，”福奇说。"如果你接种了疫苗，如果你有资格，请带上你的助推器."
As new variants emerge, US government turns attention to a universal coronavirus vaccine
At the dawn of theCOVID-19 pandemic, vaccine makers raced to design a shot that perfectly matched the new virus's genetic code. Their efforts were successful, resulting in highly effective vaccines in record time.
But the virus has continued to evolve into new, concerning variants, each with a slightly different genetic code. Although current vaccinesstill work well against new variants, they are no longer a perfect match.
Vaccine makers like Pfizer and Moderna are now exploring tweaked booster shots to match the now-dominant omicron variant, but the U.S. government is aggressively pursuing a different approach: a pan-coronavirus vaccine that would work equally well against any COVID-19 variant.
"Since September of 2020 there have been five SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern -- alpha, beta, gamma, delta and now, the current, omicron," Dr. Anthony Fauci said at a White House task force briefing Wednesday. "So, obviously, innovative approaches are needed."
Fauci, who heads up the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has issued $43 million in research grants across several academic institutions to support development of a pan-coronavirus vaccine, sometimes called a "universal" coronavirus vaccine.
The idea, scientists say, is to create a vaccine that works as as a generalist rather than a specialist. A pan-coronavirus vaccine will be designed using features of the virus's genetic code that are shared universally across all different versions of the virus -- and hopefully, any new versions that will emerge.
Several research groups are already working on a pan-coronavirus vaccine, including scientists at the California Institute of Technology, Duke University, University of Washington, Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Stéphane Bancel, Moderna's CEO, said in a statement Wednesday that the company may incorporate the omicron-specific booster into its "multivalent" booster program, which seeks to create a single shot that would work against at least two major variants.
But scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research are arguably the furthest along. The Army vaccine appears to work well in monkeys, and is now being tested for safety in a phase 1 study in human volunteers.
Ina rare look inside the Walter Reed laboratorieslast year, ABC News' Bob Woodruff spoke to a team of Army scientists hopeful that their vaccine candidate would work not only against COVID-19 variants, but also against related coronaviruses, like those that caused the SARS-1 and MERS outbreaks in 2003 and 2012, respectively.
But designing a pan-coronavirus vaccine is no easy feat. Scientists say it could take months, even years, to find a vaccine that works equally well against multiple coronavirus strains.
"I don't want anyone to think that pan-coronavirus vaccines are literally around the corner in a month or two," Fauci said. Current vaccines dramatically reduce the risk of hospitalization and severe illness, even against new variants like omicron. And crucially, they are available today.
"Do not wait to receive your primary vaccine regimen," Fauci said. "If you are vaccinated, please get your booster if you are eligible."
