The AstraZeneca booster shot significantly enhances omicron protection.
London: Omicron vaccine manufacturers claimed their shots provided protection. UK data suggests that Omicron may cause fewer hospitalizations than the Delta coronavirus variant.
This supports conclusions made in South Africa. However, coronavirus infections have increased in large parts of the world due to Omicron’s spread.
This has prompted new restrictions in many countries. However, the World Health Organization officials have stated that it is too early to draw firm conclusions regarding its virulence.
The variant was first identified in South Africa and Hong Kong last month. However, it is rapidly becoming the dominant variant in western Europe, including Britain, where daily infection rates have soared to over 100,000.
Preliminary data indicated that Omicron was less resistant to vaccines than the variant before it emerged. However, researchers said that Omicron has led to a gradual increase in deaths and hospitalizations in Britain.
Researchers from the University of Edinburgh who followed 22,205 Omicron-infected patients said that the number of patients who required hospitalization was 68% less than expected, based on Delta patients’ rate.
Imperial College London researchers have seen evidence that Omicron has a 40% to 45 percent lower risk of being hospitalized than Delta in the past two weeks.
Raghib Ali (senior clinical research associate, University of Cambridge) said that scientists had warned against the possibility of many hospitalizations in the UK due to the rise in cases.
However, he said that the UK data was encouraging, and it “may help justify the government’s decision not to increase restrictions on social gatherings over Christmas in England.”
AstraZeneca said that three courses of its COVID-19 vaccine protected the variant. This was based on data from an Oxford University laboratory study.
The study’s findings, which are yet to be published in a peer-reviewed medical journal, match Moderna and Pfizer BioNTech.
In addition, a study of Vaxzevria’s vaccine by AstraZeneca showed that neutralizing levels against Omicron after three doses were comparable to Delta after two doses.
Novavax Inc announced that early data had shown that the vaccine, approved for use by the WHO and European Union regulators this week but not yet approved by the United States, also produced an immune response against Omicron.
Eric is a professional news editor, writer, and blogger for the last 10 years. He is working with NewsGater as an off-beat news editor cum writer.