Omicron studies: Since the omicron variant continues to spread in several countries, including Mexico. Scientists have been eagerly awaiting data to answer this question: How well will vaccines work against this new variant?
South Africa and Germany published preliminary results of two small studies on omicron
On Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, scientists from South Africa and Germany. They published preliminary results from two small studies that are beginning to provide answers.
The studies have not been peer reviewed. But taken together, their data strongly suggest that vaccines will be far less effective in stopping omicron-variant infections. But they will likely offer protection against serious diseases. The study in Germany also indicates that a third injection, or a booster, will partially restore the effectiveness of the vaccines, at least for a few months.
In the South African study, researchers from the African Health Research Institute. They took blood from about a dozen people who had been vaccinated with two injections of the Pfizer vaccine. And they looked at how well their antibodies kill the virus. In the experiment, everyone’s antibodies were able to neutralize an older version of the virus quite well.
Antibodies were 40 times less potent against omicron
But against omicron, that ability was drastically reduced. On average, the antibodies were 40 times less potent against omicron than against the variant circulating in the summer of 2020.
And that’s a lot. “It’s amazing … in terms of reduction,” says Pei-Yong Shi, a virologist with the Medical Branch of the University of Texas at Galveston. Which has been doing similar experiments to determine the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine against coronavirus.
“It seems that we see a drastic reduction in the neutralizing activity, much more than with the previous variants.” Virologist Florian Krammer of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai wrote on Twitter. “Little activity was left in the vaccinated individuals.”
The virus contains many mutations that are already known to weaken the power of antibodies
These findings confirm what scientists have been predicting since omicron was first detected several weeks ago. The virus contains many mutations that are already known to weaken the power of the antibodies produced by the immune system.
Based on the results of this preliminary study, scientists say that we are likely to see many more infections with the omicron variant. And South Africa is reporting many reinfections.
Most of the people in the South African experiment retained some ability to kill the virus
But the news is not entirely dire. The vaccine is not just about protecting against infection. It’s also about protecting yourself against serious illness and death. And there is reason to believe that vaccines will continue to do that, even with the omicron variant. Most of the people in the South African experiment retained some ability to kill the virus. And scientists say that even a little antibody activity can be enough to keep someone from ending up in the hospital.
In addition, the immune system has other tools besides antibodies that can prevent serious diseases. In particular, T cells can kill the virus after an infection. And scientists believe that those may resist omicron better than antibodies.
On top of all that, the German study shows a third booster shot, either with the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. It increases the neutralizing capacity of the antibodies to the levels seen with the delta variant, at least for several weeks after the boost.
Antibody potency jumped to levels seen with delta
In that study, researchers at Goethe University in Frankfurt looked at the potency of antibodies against omicron and delta half a month and three months after a third boost. In the short term, the potency of the antibodies jumped to the levels seen with delta in about half of the people. But after three months, most people’s antibodies had dropped to the level seen without the boost.
The vaccine manufacturer Pfizer it also issued a press release Wednesday supporting these new findings.
“Preliminary neutralization studies indicate that 2 doses of vaccines may not be sufficient to prevent * infection * with omicron (not a serious disease), but regular boosters will help restore this decrease to some extent,” said Dr. Muge. Cevik, who is an infectious disease researcher at the University of St. Andrews, wrote on Twitter.
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