09-12-2021, 08:03 AM
PUBLISHED DEC 8, 2021, 7:02 PM SGT
NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) - The earliest studies on the Omicron variant are in and the glimpse they are providing is cautiously optimistic: While vaccines like the one made by Pfizer and BioNTech may be less powerful against the new variant, protection can be fortified with boosters.
Studies from South Africa and Sweden are showing that Omicron does, as feared, cause a loss of immune protection - but not a complete one.
In a study of blood plasma from people given two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot, there was a 41-fold drop in levels of virus-blocking antibodies compared with the strain circulating at the start of the pandemic.
A separate study from Stockholm's Karolinska Institute was more optimistic, finding the decline in antibodies against Omicron was only slightly worse than for Delta, the strain currently causing most Covid-19 cases worldwide.
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The loss of immune protection is "robust but not complete", said Professor Alex Sigal, head of research at the Africa Health Research Institute in Durban, who presented the findings of the first study late on Tuesday (Dec 7).
"A good booster probably would decrease your chance of infection, especially infection leading to more severe disease," he said.
......
studies have found that a third dose some six months after the second can bolster levels of these better-quality antibodies, making boosters an important weapon to fight Omicron.
Much better to read full report at: https://www.straitstimes.com/world/unite...of-vaccine
NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) - The earliest studies on the Omicron variant are in and the glimpse they are providing is cautiously optimistic: While vaccines like the one made by Pfizer and BioNTech may be less powerful against the new variant, protection can be fortified with boosters.
Studies from South Africa and Sweden are showing that Omicron does, as feared, cause a loss of immune protection - but not a complete one.
In a study of blood plasma from people given two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot, there was a 41-fold drop in levels of virus-blocking antibodies compared with the strain circulating at the start of the pandemic.
A separate study from Stockholm's Karolinska Institute was more optimistic, finding the decline in antibodies against Omicron was only slightly worse than for Delta, the strain currently causing most Covid-19 cases worldwide.
......
The loss of immune protection is "robust but not complete", said Professor Alex Sigal, head of research at the Africa Health Research Institute in Durban, who presented the findings of the first study late on Tuesday (Dec 7).
"A good booster probably would decrease your chance of infection, especially infection leading to more severe disease," he said.
......
studies have found that a third dose some six months after the second can bolster levels of these better-quality antibodies, making boosters an important weapon to fight Omicron.
Much better to read full report at: https://www.straitstimes.com/world/unite...of-vaccine
