Study: J&J, Sputnik and Sinopharm vaccines extremely weak against Omicron

Chinese state-owned Sinopharm and Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines, as well as Russia’s Sputnik, appear to produce little or no antibodies to the Omicron mutation in the coronavirus, according to a study that proves its “escape” potential. new form of the virus from the immune response that has been built to date.

According to Bloomberg, researchers at the University of Washington and the Swiss pharmaceutical company Humabs Biomed analyzed the effectiveness of six vaccines against the most contagious and most mutated version of the coronavirus. Only three of the 13 people who had taken the two doses of Sinopharm developed antibodies to Omicron. For J&J, only one in 12 samples, while none of the 11 vaccinated with Sputnik showed antibodies.

The study, which was published as a pre-publication and has not undergone peer review, found that the lowest reduction in protective antibodies comes with previous disease plus two doses of the Pfizer – BionTech vaccine. In these people, the antibodies dropped by 5 times, compared to 44 times for those who had just taken a double dose of Pfizer, but did not get sick.

Evidence showing only partial protection against the Omicron mutation has led governments to impose new travel restrictions and intensify boosting campaigns. Omicron is infecting at a rate 70 times faster than Delta and has so far been detected in 77 countries.

The study showed that two doses of Pfizer or Moderna also produced fewer antibodies, and the same was true for those vaccinated with the double-dose Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine.

Research earlier in the week found that the Sinovac Biotech vaccine – one of the most widely used in the world, along with that of Pfizer-BioNTech – also did not produce satisfactory levels of two-dose antibodies against Omicron and would be needed this repetitive dose.