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UK scientists: Two doses of a Covid vaccine are not enough to stop Omicron
The BBC reported that UK scientists have warned, two doses of a Covid vaccine are not enough to stop you catching the Omicron variant.
It mentioned that early analysis of UK Omicron and Delta cases showed the vaccines were less effective at stopping the new variant.
But a third booster prevents around 75% of people getting any Covid symptoms.
One of the main concerns since the heavily-mutated Omicron variant first emerged was that it would make vaccines less effective.
The UK Health Security Agency report analysed data from 581 Omicron cases and thousands of Delta cases to calculate how effective the vaccines were against the new variant.
COVID-19-Virus/PixabayThe analysis is based on limited data, but showed a dramatic drop in effectiveness for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and a significant drop off for two doses of Pfizer.
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The 75% protection against Covid symptoms after a booster is not as high as against previous variants.
There was not enough data to analyse the Moderna or Janssen vaccines, but there is no reason to think they would have different results.
However, the UK Health Security Agency said vaccines were still likely to offer good protection against severe Covid that needed hospital treatment.
So far, around 22 million people have received a booster dose, but even if everyone was boosted the lower vaccine effectiveness would still leave millions of people susceptible.
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The real-world data backs up laboratory studies that showed a 40-fold reduction in the ability of antibodies from double-vaccinated people to take out the virus.
There is optimism that vaccines will still keep many people out of hospital even if more do get Covid. Data on severity could be published next week.
However, an Omicron wave could be problematic even if it was milder. A large and sudden wave could lead to everyone who is still vulnerable needing hospital care at the same time.
Source: BBC
