WHO: Vaccines may be less effective against omicron
New research suggests that existing COVID-19 vaccines may be less effective in fighting the omicron variant than previous strains of the virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Wednesday.
The WHO said further research is required to get a clearer sense of how the omicron variant may penetrate immunity gained from the vaccines, which have generally proved effective against the coronavirus,
Reuters reported.
"As a result of this, the overall risk related to the new variant of concern Omicron remains very high," the WHO said, according to Reuters.
A study of the omicron variant that was published earlier this month found that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine
may be less effective against the omicron variant than prevous strains of COVID-19. In the study of 12 patients by the Africa Health Research Institute, there was a nearly 40-fold reduction in vaccine-induced neutralizing antibodies compared to the original strain of the virus.
A new study that was published this week by Discovery Health, however,
found that the Pfizer vaccine is 70 percent effective at preventing hospitalizations in patients infected with the omicron variant.
Preliminary studies from Pfizer and BioNTech have additionally
found that a booster shot of their vaccine, in addition to the initial two doses, provides strong protection against the variant, according to the companies.
New research suggests that existing COVID-19 vaccines may be less effective in fighting the omicron variant than previous strains of the virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) said We…
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