‘Micron’ breaks down Pfizer vaccine immunity more than other coronavirus variants

The Omicron mutation avoids the immunity offered by the Pfizer vaccine more than other coronavirus strains, according to laboratory experiments which also show that a booster dose is likely to help treat the highly mutated strain, according to Bloomberg.

According to the first announcements of experiments on the effectiveness of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, researchers at the African Health Research Institute found that omicron infections lead to a nearly forty-fold reduction in antibody-blocking antibodies compared to the original strain found two years ago in China.

The loss of protection is strong, “but not total,” said Alex Sigal, head of the laboratory, in a presentation he published today, Bloomberg reports.

Since South Africa announced the discovery of the Omicron variant on November 25, about 450 researchers worldwide have been working to isolate the highly mutated variant from patient samples, develop it in the laboratory, verify its genomic sequence and develop test methods. , according to the World Health Organization.

The rapid spread of Omicron in South Africa has raised concerns that the immune protection generated by vaccination or disease with Covid-19 may be insufficient to stop re-infections or halt a new wave of cases and illnesses. The WHO has warned that Omicron could fuel outbreaks with “serious consequences” amid indications that it is making coronavirus more contagious.

Work in Alex Sigal’s lab involved testing blood plasma from people who had been vaccinated against Covid-19 with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to measure the concentration of antibodies needed to kill or block the virus. The results, along with those from other laboratories currently under investigation, will help determine whether or not existing Covid vaccines need to be modified for protection against Omicron.

Sigal’s lab was the first to isolate the Beta variant, a coronavirus strain found in South Africa in late 2020.