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There has been much talk in recent days about the effectiveness of vaccines against the new variant of the coronavirus. But scientists are still faced with another, equally important question: how long does vaccine protection last at all? How long after taking the previous dose of the vaccine does the resistance to SARS-CoV-2 noticeably decrease? Are the vaccines administered a few weeks or months ago able to protect us from Omicron?
- Up-to-date data on how long vaccines are effective against symptomatic Omicron infection, comes from the latest UK Health Safety Agency report
- From the study in which over 216 cases of coronavirus infection, it appears that the effectiveness of vaccines against the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 is lower than against Delta
- Much, however, depends on the combination of vaccines we took as part of the primary cycle and the booster dose
- Among the analyzed configurations, the combination of Pfizer + Pfizer + Moderna gives the highest effectiveness after a few weeks from the last dose
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage
The efficacy of vaccines against Omikron
New information on the protection period of COVID-19 vaccines comes from the 33rd technical report prepared by the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA). One of the chapters of the document deals with the effectiveness of vaccines against Omikron, a new variant of the coronavirus.
Three preparations were taken under the microscope: Vaxzevria (Oxford / AstraZeneca), Comirnaty (Pfizer / BioNtech) and Spikevax (Moderna). The effectiveness of protection was assessed in various vaccination configurations (basic cycle and booster dose) and time periods (from one week to 9-10 weeks after taking the booster and up to 25 weeks after the second dose).
- Also read: Protection Against Omicrons. Two doses may not be enough, but a booster is. How it’s possible?
The study, conducted between November 27 and December 17, included people diagnosed with the symptomatic course of COVID-19 caused by infection with the Delta or Omikron variants. Their level of antibodies was compared to those of people vaccinated with the same set of vaccines, but who tested negative for SARS-CoV-2. Patients who had recently traveled abroad were excluded from the tests – differences in exposure to the risk of infection could significantly affect the results.
Finally data for 147 thousand. 597 cases of Delta infection and 68 thousand. 489 cases of Omikron.
The rest of the text is below the video.
The study shows that vaccine efficacy against the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 is lower than against Delta, and at all time intervals. How does this translate into individual vaccine configurations?
- Also read: Omicron resistant to known antibodies. It can run away from vaccines
Vaccination AstraZeneca + AstraZeneca + booster Pfizer or Moderna
Among those who got vaccinated with two doses of Astra Zeneka, the vaccine was around 60% effective two to four weeks after receiving a booster dose of Pfizer or Moderna. However, this protection decreased significantly after 10 weeks – in the case of Comirnata it was 35%, and in the case of the Spikevax booster – 45%.
Vaccination Pfizer + Pfizer + booster Pfizer
People vaccinated in the basic cycle with Comirnata could count on 70 percent. protection against symptomatic infection after receiving a booster from the same manufacturer (Pfizer) after a week from the second dose. However, 10 weeks after receiving the booster dose, vaccine effectiveness had dropped to 45%.
Vaccination Pfizer + Pfizer + Moderna booster
In turn, people who decided to vaccinate Moderna after two doses of Pfizer could count on protection at the level of 70-75 percent. until the ninth week after taking the booster.
The authors of the study emphasize that these results should be treated with caution. It must result, firstly, from a small sample (a small number of people covered by the study), and secondly, from possible errors caused by factors such as exposure to a specific variant of SARS-CoV-2 (e.g. contact with a person). that came back from abroad or her relatives), which neither the patients nor the researchers knew.
- See also: Moderna or Pfizer? Which booster provides better protection?
The vaccine and Omikron: what about protection against severe disease?
As noted in the report, the lower efficacy of vaccines against the symptomatic course of infection with the Omikron variant does not have to go hand in hand with the reduced protection against the severe course of COVID-19 and hospitalization. However, much more time is needed to draw any reliable conclusions on this matter. The new variant is not with us for a short time to be able to analyze the course of infection in people who were hospitalized because of Omikron.
However, the British point out that after the Delta appeared in the country, the effectiveness of vaccines against mild infections after two doses was significantly lower than that of the Alpha variant. At the same time, however, no similar decrease was observed in the case of hospitalization. Perhaps in the case of Omikron the scenario will be similar.
- Also read: Who is the most resistant to the Omikron variant?
Do you want to test your COVID-19 immunity after vaccination? Have you been infected and want to check your antibody levels? See the COVID-19 immunity test package, which you will perform at Diagnostics network points.
Also read:
- Gloomy forecasts for 2022. Up to 3 billion infections with Omikron
- The omicron grows faster than previous mutations. What does the Nebraska case show?
- How long have we been infected with the coronavirus? The length of isolation time varies from country to country. Why?
- Soon there was an increase in infections and hospitalizations. Prof. Fal: this is the brick effect of the holidays
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