Omicron Variant Could Weaken COVID Vaccine Protection
December 9, 2021| |
Initial laboratory studies on the Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant showed that it is highly likely to compromise the protection provided by COVID vaccines. The researchers, which include teams from South Africa, Germany, and Sweden, as well as the Pfizer-BioNtech collaboration, said that the COVID vaccine protection would still be useful, especially with boosters.
"We're likely to see reduced effectiveness of vaccines against preventing infection," says Penny Moore, a virologist at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, who co-authored one of the studies. "I think it's a strong argument to get boosters out there."
There is still more research needed to measure the capacity of antibodies in people's blood to block the infection of cells, as well as the vaccine's ability to protect against COVID-19.
Read more from Nature.| |
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