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In Poland, three preparations are available as a booster dose of vaccination against COVID-19: Moderny, Pfizera and Johnson & Johnson. Many people wonder which one to choose for the vaccine to best protect them from Omicron. Perhaps a hint will be the latest results from the US study, the authors of which have marked the effectiveness of Spikevax against the new variant of the coronavirus.
- Spikevax (Moderna) has the highest titre of antibodies to Omikron among the vaccines available as booster.
- After taking two doses of Moderna, protection against the new variant was 35 times lower than against the D614G mutation
- The titer of antibodies increased up to 20 times after taking the Spikevax booster
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What protection against Omicron does the Moderna booster give?
The scientists’ new findings were published in the renowned journal “The New England Journal of Medicine” (“NEJM”). The study compared how Moderny’s vaccine manages to neutralize the virus depending on the number of doses administered (after the full vaccination schedule, i.e. two doses of the vaccine, and after the booster injection, i.e. the booster dose) and the pathogen variants. The comparison was made between Omikron and D614G, which was one of the first mutations of the original Wuhan virus, the Beta and Delta variants were also considered to a lesser extent.
In a pilot study, neutralization of the Omikron variant following the basic Moderna vaccination regimen was found to be lower than that of the D614G and Beta variants, but was significantly increased after the Spikevax booster.
One month after taking the second dose of anti-Omikron neutralizing antibodies were detected in 85% of patients. study participants. The titer of these antibodies was on average 35 times lower than that of the D614G variant.
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The level of antibodies to the Omikron variant significantly decreased seven months after the completion of the primary vaccination course. It was detected in only 55 percent. participants, and there were 8,4 times less than in the case of the D614G.
However, when study participants took a Moderna booster dose, the antibody titer increased 20-fold from the level measured one month after the second dose. However, there were still fewer antibodies than to the D614G variant, although the difference was not that significant (2,9 times).
Even more interesting observations resulted from the measurement of the level of antibodies six months after the booster dose. The neutralizing titers for the Omikron were 6,3 times lower than those assessed one month after the booster, and they decreased faster than for the D614G, but were found in all study participants. At the same time, the decrease in neutralization of the Omikron variant six months after the booster dose was found to be similar to the decrease in neutralization titers relative to the D614G variant seven months after the second dose.
American researchers emphasize that the “boost” of the antibody titer given by the booster significantly increases the chance of avoiding the severe form of COVID-19.
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Antibodies aren’t everything
The results of these and many other studies showing that the effectiveness of vaccines (not only Spikevax, but others) against the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 is slightly lower, may be worrying. Since there are fewer Omikron neutralizing antibodies than other mutations, does vaccination with a booster dose make sense?
Doctors and experts have no doubt that it is. Not only antibodies, but also T lymphocytes take part in building immunity to a given pathogen. The former, along with B lymphocytes, are produced as part of the humoral immune response, which occurs faster. The latter are generated during a cellular response which is delayed but has a more sustained effect on the microorganism. Even if the titer of antibodies decreases, firstly, they are still in our body, and secondly, in addition to them, the immune system has other tools to fight the virus.
Moderna better than Pfizer?
Many scientific studies show that the protection offered by the Moderna vaccine is higher than that offered by the Pfizer preparation. Many people interpret this fact in such a way that Spikevax should be used as a booster dose. Meanwhile specialists are far from recommending a specific vaccine.
Bow. Bartosz Fiałek, a rheumatologist and promoter of medical knowledge about COVID-19, points out that the difference in the efficacy of the two vaccines is not significantly higher. – We do not have a situation here in which the Moderna vaccine would be 95% effective and Pfizer-BioNTech 50% effective. The differences are small – emphasized the doctor in an interview with WP abcZdrowie, adding that more important than choosing a specific preparation is to adopt an mRNA vaccine as a booster, not a vector one.
- Read also: They compared the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. Which is better for the third dose?
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