By Tim Cocks
JOHANESBURG (Reuters) – Two new strains of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus can evade antibodies from previous infections enough to trigger a new wave, but are much less able to develop in the blood of people vaccinated against Covid-19, scientists in Africa have found. from the South. Scientists from several institutions in the country were examining the BA.4 and BA.5 sublines of Ômicron, added last month by the World Health Organization to the monitoring list.
They collected blood samples from 39 participants previously infected with Ômicron as soon as the variant first appeared late last year. Fifteen of them were vaccinated — eight with the Pfizer vaccine; seven with Janssen’s – while the other 24 were not. “The vaccinated group showed a neutralization capacity about 5 times greater… and will be more protected”, pointed out the study, whose preview was released this weekend.
In samples from unvaccinated persons, there was an almost eight-fold decrease in antibody production when exposed to the BA.4 and BA.5 sublines, compared to the original BA.1 strain of Ômicron.
The blood of vaccinated people showed this decrease by up to three times.
South Africa may be entering a fifth wave of Covid sooner than expected, officials and scientists said Friday, blaming a sustained rise in infections that appears to be driven by subvariants BA.4 and BA. 5 from Omicron.
Only about 30% of South Africa’s population (60 million people) is fully vaccinated. study.
Source: CNN Brasil
