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Despite numerous studies emphasizing the importance of a booster dose for maintaining protection against COVID-19, Poles are reluctant to take the booster. The reasons vary, and one of them is the hope that a vaccine dedicated to the new variant of the coronavirus will soon be available. Does such a strategy make sense in the current situation?
- Commercially available vaccines do not protect against Omikron infection as well as against previous SARS-CoV-2 variants
- This is because they were developed on the basis of the original Wuhan virus, which is significantly different from the new variant
- Although vaccine manufacturers are working on their products to increase their effectiveness against Omikron, the new preparations will not be available sooner than this spring.
- Experts urge not to wait for them, but to vaccinate as soon as possible, because the fifth wave is unstoppable and there is a high risk that the coronavirus will affect most of us
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage
The omicron wave has become a fact
Observing the media reports, one gets the impression that not a week goes by without new data on the efficacy of vaccines against the novel coronavirus variant. Indeed, scientists have gone to great lengths to investigate whether the protection we have gained from vaccinations is sufficient to counteract new, more infectious variants, such as the Omicron.
These efforts are perfectly justified. The new variant of SARS-CoV-2 took over the whole world in two months. There are more and more countries in which it has “established itself” so much that it has ousted or will soon supersede the variants that dominate there, including Delta. In many of these places, Omikron has hit a point where a large proportion of the population has lost much of the immunity it had acquired through the ingestion of two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
- Also read: The Omicron Wave passes through Europe. What does this mean for Poland?
The second reason for the growing number of infections is the infectivity of the new variant, incomparable to any of the previous, classified as VoC (ang. Variants of Concern – of concern). Omikron infects quickly and efficiently, infecting many people at the same time, regardless of their vaccination status.
- Check: The most dangerous COVID-19 variants. How many are there?
Why are vaccines not fully protecting against Omicron?
It is this last fact that causes the most excitement because the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines on the market against Omikron is lower than expected. The thing is that from a scientific point of view, this is not surprising.
The vaccines were developed from variants that were known at the laboratory stage, primarily the original Wuhan virus. Of course, scientists were and are aware that viruses mutate, and thus new variants may emerge that will elude the immune response generated after vaccination, and the recipe of each vaccine takes into account such “exceptions” to the rule (ie the original genetic sequence of the virus). However, researchers were not able to predict how much a given pathogen would change, and the example of Omikron shows that sometimes it happens in a completely expected manner (the number of mutations in this variant, amounting to as much as 50, has brought almost the entire world of science into stupor. ).
What vaccine manufacturers can do is refine the recipe of their preparations in such a way that they also work best against the new variant of the coronavirus. And that’s what they do.
The rest of the text is below the video.
The update of the vaccines for the new variant is ongoing
According to information provided by Pfizer, the Comirnata vaccine effective against Omikron may appear on the market as early as March. Also this year, we should expect an “updated” version of the Spikevax vaccine, although Moderna honestly warns that it will not happen earlier than in autumn (now clinical trials of a booster dose, including the Omikron variant). AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson also improve their preparations, but here the work seems much less advanced. These companies also do not provide any details about the stage of such works and the possible dates of entering the market with the new version of the vaccines.
- Also read: Moderna or Pfizer? Which booster provides better protection?
However, even assuming Pfizer and Moderna manage to successfully market the updated vaccines, it is not certain that waiting for a better version of protection against COVID-19 pays off. According to experts, the uncertainty regarding the timing of availability of the “Omikron vaccine” is too great to risk. The fifth wave has already reached Poland, and the forecasts are not optimistic.
At the Monday press conference, Health Minister Adam Niedzielski said that soon we can expect even 70. infections daily. Although this figure seemed abstract, the latest statistics (over 30 new infections) bring us very close to these predictions. The forecasts of research units monitoring the course of the COVID-19 pandemic are even more pessimistic: there may actually be up to 150 cases of disease. during the day. With such a large number of new infections, the health care system in Poland (not only hospitals, but also health care clinics) may very quickly become ineffective.
- Also read: Omikron is spreading over Poland. Expert: We have a hard six weeks ahead
Waiting for a new vaccine is very risky
In such circumstances, waiting for the “perfect” vaccine could be tragic. According to prof. dr hab. Joanna Zajkowska from the Department of Infectious Diseases and Neuroinfections of the University Teaching Hospital in Białystok, the risk that the vaccine with high efficiency against Omikron will appear on the market after the fifth wave is very high. So if we do not vaccinate (in the basic cycle, if we have not already done so) or do not vaccinate (with a booster dose), we will be deprived of any protection during this wave.
– With forecasts for a record number of new infections, most of us will be affected by COVID-19. Who reacts to an infection depends largely on the degree of protection they have acquired so far – says the expert, adding that it is worth believing in scientific research that says that taking a booster significantly increases the level of antibodies against Omikron. – The epidemic situation forces the use of what is available. There is nothing to wait for, because we simply cannot wait for the new vaccine to appear.
- Also read: How deadly is Omikron?
Expert: «You have to protect yourself right now. There is still time »
Prof. Agnieszka Szuster-Ciesielska from the Department of Virology and Immunology, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, who appeals to people who hesitate to take the vaccine to do it as soon as possible.
- See also: “All who want to live should get vaccinated”. Is it enough to protect yourself from the Omicron?
– We have to look at the current situation. Infections will grow vertically upwards. For those who hesitate to get vaccinated now or to wait, I absolutely recommend getting vaccinated as soon as possible. This is advice both for those who are waiting for a vaccine dedicated to Omikron and those who are waiting for a protein vaccine. According to recent reports from the health ministry, Novavax will not be available until February 21. It’s a whole month of waiting, the fifth wave is advancing very fast. You have to protect yourself right now. There is still time – says the professor, adding to remember about the period of building up immunity. – If we get vaccinated today, it takes about two weeks for the body to build up adequate protection. Therefore, there is nothing to wait for and you need to get vaccinated now.
Prof. Szuster-Ciesielska has no doubts that the scale of the Omikron’s impact will be huge, and it will be very difficult for us to protect ourselves from it.
– This variant is so insanely invasive and spreads so quickly that even people who follow basic sanitary rules, i.e. wear masks and distance themselves from others, can become infected. No one who leads a normal family and professional life is able to isolate himself so as not to have contact with other people. And if five or six months had elapsed since his primary cycle immunization, his vaccine response has certainly decreased. As the Omikron variant effectively breaks this defense, the likelihood of contracting the coronavirus is very high – explain.
- Also read: The fifth wave has attacked. Which provinces have the most infections?
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.
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