mRNA Vaccines Cut Severity of Omicron

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.

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.

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.

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Source-IANS