Pfizer booster may offer important protection against Omicron variant
Pfizer has announced that a booster of its COVID-19 vaccine may improve protection against the new Omicron variant of the virus.
Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said on Wednesday that while two doses of the vaccine may not be sufficient protection against the Omicron variant, lab tests showed that a booster shot increased people’s levels of antibodies capable of fighting Omicron by 25-fold. For those who have not yet received a booster, two doses should still prevent severe disease or death.
Health authorities in Australia, the US and around the world have been urging those eligible to get a third dose as soon as they are able. Dr Mikael Dolsten, Pfizer’s chief scientific officer, told the Associated Press, "Go and get your third boost as soon as possible. This is comforting and a very positive message that we now have a plan that will induce immunity that is likely to protect from infection, symptomatic illness and severe disease from now across the entire winter season."
US President Joe Biden said the Pfizer booster news was “very encouraging” although he cautioned, “that’s the lab report. There’s more studies going on.” The findings were announced in a press release and have not yet been subject to scientific review.
Pfizer tested blood samples taken a month after a booster had been administered and found that people had levels of Omicron-neutralising antibodies that were similar to amounts proven protective against earlier variants after two doses.
It’s important to note that scientists don’t yet know how big a threat the Omicron variant is. Delta remains responsible for most of the current COVID-19 cases around the world, but the Omicron variant carries an unusually large number of mutations, and scientists are working quickly to learn how easily it spreads, whether it causes more serious illness than other variants, and how resistant it might be to vaccines.
Image: Jasmin Merdan