A report from the Africa Health Research Institute in South Africa indicated that Omicron diminishes the neutralising effect produced by two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, as compared to other variants of the virus.
According to the study published on Tuesday, 7 December, the antibody response elicited by the vaccines was significantly less successful at preventing Omicron from infecting cells in the body.
It also reportedly demonstrated better results after a booster shot, noting that an increased number of antibodies certainly aid in body's fight against the COVID-19 strain.
Head of research at the laboratory, Alex Signal, said that the loss of protection is “robust, but not complete," Bloomberg reported. He added in an interview,
"While I think there’s going to be a lot of infection, I’m not sure this is going to translate into systems collapsing."
The report was published on the basis of antibodies from six people who had been administered the Pfizer shot and had never contracted COVID-19 before, and six others who had been infected before being inoculated, The New York Times reported.
In view of the findings, it is important to note that vaccines stimulate an extensive immune response, involving more than just antibodies. Therefore, the experiment led by Signal suggests an incomplete conclusion on how effective the vaccine is against Omicron induced hospitalisation or death.
'Highly Unlikely' to Fully Sidestep Protection from Vaccines: WHO
Meanwhile, a senior official at the World Health Organization told news agency AFP that preliminary data surrounding Omicron does not indicated that it is more severe, and is "highly unlikely" to completely sidestep protection from the vaccines.
"In fact, if anything, the direction is towards less severity," WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan stated.
However, he cautioned against interpreting the signal in a hasty manner.
(With inputs from Bloomberg, AFP and The New York Times.)
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