FRANKFURT— Two doses of the
BioNTech and
Pfizer coronavirus vaccine may not be enough to protect against the Omicron strain,
the companies warned Wednesday, but they stressed it was "still
effective" after a third jab.
اضافة اعلان
The companies' news was called reassuring by experts, and
came as the first independent data from labs around the world emerged,
suggesting that the new variant is better at evading vaccine-trained immunity
than those before it.
In preliminary results published on Wednesday, Pfizer and
BioNTech said their vaccine "is still effective in preventing
COVID-19,
also against Omicron, if it has been administered three times".
But they warned that "the Omicron variant is probably
not sufficiently neutralized after two doses".
According to early laboratory research using blood serum
from vaccinated people, a booster third dose generated around the same level of
antibodies against Omicron as is seen after a second dose with the initial
strain.
Their results have not been peer reviewed.
"We still need to be very measured and take a wait and
see approach, but I think what we do have is at least encouraging,"
Virologist Angela Rasmussen of Canada's Vaccine and Infectious Disease
Organization told AFP.
"Boosters will definitely be helpful in keeping the
rate of Omicron breakthrough slower," she added.
Boosters urged
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday summarized
what is so far known about
Omicron — it poses higher infection risks to people
who have already had the virus or been vaccinated than previous variants, and
there is a preliminary indication it could cause milder disease.
But even if confirmed to be less severe, the variant is
likely even more transmissible than Delta, meaning it could reach and thus
sicken more people.
Speaking at a press conference, BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin said
that reducing the time required between second and third doses of the vaccine
was the "right way to go" to increase protection through the winter.
The UK has begun giving booster shots to individuals at
least three months after their second dose, while the delay to receive an
additional shot is longer elsewhere.
The vaccine-makers said that an Omicron-specific version of
the jab, currently in development by BioNTech, would be ready for delivery by
March, pending regulatory approval.
The decision to switch production to the tailored vaccine
would depend on Omicron's spread.
The detection of the first Omicron cases two weeks ago
coincided with soaring infection numbers across the world, and the variant
added fuel to concerns about a global COVID resurgence.
Dozens of nations have re-imposed border restrictions in
response to the spread of the new virus variant and raised the possibility of a
return of economically punishing lockdowns.
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