LONDON: Booster Covid-19 Vaccine Shots Give around 70% to 75% protection against mild diseases from the new Omicron variant, said the British Health Security Agency on Friday, citing the initial findings from real-world studies.
These findings are some of the earliest data about protection against Omicron outside the laboratory study, which has demonstrated the reduced activity of neutralizing Omicron.
The initial real world data shows that while Omicron can greatly reduce protection against mild diseases from the initial two-dose vaccination course, the booster restores protection to a certain extent.
“This initial estimate must be treated carefully but they show that a few months after the second JAD, there is a greater risk of capturing Omicron variants compared to the Delta Strain,” said Dr.
Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunization in UKHSA, added that protection against disease Severe is expected to remain higher.
“Data shows this risk significantly reduced after the booster vaccine, so I urge everyone to take their booster when qualifying.” In an analysis of 581 people with confirmed omicrons, two doses of astrazeneca and Pfizer-Bontech vaccines provide a much lower level of protection against symptomatic infections compared to what they provide against Delta.
However, when enhanced by the dose of the Pfizer vaccine, there are around 70% of protection against symptomatic infections for people who initially received astrazeneca, and about 75% of protection for those who received Pfizer.
Which compared to estimates of protection against infection from Delta after a booster is around 90%.
UKHSA said that, in the current trend, Omicron will explain more than 50% of all Covid-19 infections in mid-December, with England exceeding one million infections at the end of the month.