Omicron\u2019s ability to evade vaccine and infection-induced immunity is \u201crobust but not complete,\u201d said the research head of a laboratory at the Africa Health Research Institute in South Africa.<\/p>\n
In the first reported experiments gauging the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines against the worrisome new strain, researchers at the institute found that the variant could partially evade the vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech.<\/p>\n
Still, its evasion wasn\u2019t complete and a booster shot could provide additional protection, Alex Sigal said in an online presentation on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Since South Africa announced the discovery of omicron on Nov. 25, about 450 researchers globally have been working to isolate the highly mutated variant from patient specimens, grow it in the lab, verify its genomic sequence, and establish methods to test it in blood-plasma samples, according to the World Health Organization.<\/p>\n
Omicron\u2019s rapid spread in South Africa has raised concern that the immune protection generated by vaccination or a previous bout of Covid-19 is insufficient to stop reinfections or stem a fresh wave of cases and hospitalisations. The WHO has warned omicron could fuel surges with \u201csevere consequences\u201d amid signs that it makes the coronavirus more transmissible.<\/p>\n
The work in Sigal\u2019s lab involved testing blood plasma from people who were vaccinated against Covid-19 to gauge the concentration of antibodies needed to neutralize, or block, the virus.<\/p>\n
The results, along with those from other labs currently underway, will help determine whether or not existing Covid vaccines need to be altered to protect against omicron.<\/p>\n
Sigal\u2019s laboratory was the first to isolate the beta variant, a strain of the coronavirus that was identified in South Africa in late 2020.<\/p>\n