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COvid vaccine boosters improve protection by up to 75% against a rapidly spreading Omicron variant, which is more likely to bypass two doses than earlier strains, preliminary UK data shows.
Preliminary studies showed that the original course of shots from the AstraZeneca plc and Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE partnership provided little protection against symptomatic infection with Omicron, as indicated by the initial study. The booster increased protection from 70% to 75% in the early days after the shot.
“These early estimates should be treated with caution, but they indicate that a few months after the second jab, there is a greater risk of catching the Omicron variant,” said Mary Ramsay, head of vaccination at the UK Health Security Agency. Statement.
The findings come as the UK intensifies its booster campaign in the face of a heavily mutated version. New evidence suggests the strain is growing much faster than Delta, and UK health officials expect Omicron to become the dominant variant by mid-December, accounting for more than half of new cases.
The effectiveness against severe disease is still unknown, but is expected to be higher than against symptomatic disease alone, the government said on Friday.
The UK has relied largely on Pfizer Vaccines for boosters, supplemented by Moderna Inc’s shot when needed. Many people in Britain received the AstraZeneca vaccine for their first two doses.
preliminary study
The analysis looked at 581 people with confirmed omicrons, and health officials said the figures should be interpreted with caution until more cases are studied.
The UK has moved to reimpose some measures, including guidance on indoor mask-wearing and work from home, as Omicron proliferates. may be a new strain spreading fast According to epidemiologist John Edmonds, cases of the variant could be upwards of 60,000 in England a day until Christmas, compared to South Africa and Britain.
Other early indications of the vaccine’s effectiveness against Omicron have given a mixed picture, with Pfizer and BioNTech saying that preliminary laboratory studies suggest a third dose may be needed to neutralize it. Researchers in South Africa have observed a drop in the level of antibody protection from that vaccine versus the new strain, although so-called T-cells may still provide immune defense against serious disease.
Read also: Why it’s too early to start panicking over the EU’s COVID vaccine shortage
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