mRNA Vaccines Cut Severity of Omicron

Researchers know that breakthrough cases are more likely with Delta and Omicron than the initial strain, but the vaccines still do a good job.

People who have received two or three doses of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine are significantly less likely to have a severe illness if they become infected with the Delta or Omicron coronavirus variants.

The study, involving a team of University of Utah researchers, examined health care personnel, first responders and other frontline workers in the US.

COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines: New Insights

"It’s encouraging that the mRNA vaccines hold up rather well against these variants," said Sarang Yoon, assistant professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at University of Utah Health.

Omicron Variant of COVID-19
Omicron variant is a mutated strain of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) with faster transmissibility and enhanced virulence compared to the original COVID-19 virus.

‘In the case of Omicron, the risk of symptomatic infection was similar between participants with two vaccine doses and those who were unvaccinated, while those with three doses experienced a higher risk than the unvaccinated.’

Researchers examined 1,199 participants who developed COVID-19 infections.

Of the participants, 24 per cent were infected with Delta and 62 per cent contracted Omicron, while 14 per cent had the original virus strain.

In the case of Delta, participants who had received two vaccine doses were significantly less likely to be symptomatic than those who were unvaccinated.

New Campaign With Omicron-Adapted COVID Vaccines Launched
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The authors noted that, while the study is among the largest of its kind examining COVID-19 vaccines over time and across variants, grouping participants by variant and vaccine status resulted in some combinations with relatively few people, affecting the precision of the findings.

There were also results the authors characterized as "unexpected" among participants who received three doses and had symptomatic Omicron infections.

Omicron's new 'BA.2.75.2' variant growing quickly in India
In South Africa a new sub-variant of COVID-19 Omicron called BA.2.75 has been detected. With South Africa having lifted all major COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.

Source-IANS

Omicron BA.2.75: Fresh Insights
BA.2.75 Omicron strain is not more resistant to antibodies than the currently dominating BA.5, which is positive news.