"Optimal protection against Omikron arises after the 3rd vaccination": Virus expert explains new mutant
Created: 12/13/2021, 4:30 PM
From: Juliane Gutmann
The omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading extremely quickly.
Is it more dangerous than the previously known variants?
Virus expert Professor Reichl provides the answers.
What is known so far about the new Omikron Corona variant is rather unsettling. The mutant is currently spreading worldwide - and at breakneck speed. It is not only the high level of infectiousness that worries doctors. The report that Omikron could partially bypass the protective effect of the existing vaccines * makes researchers prick up their ears. The latest studies would show Deutsche Welle (dw), the international broadcaster of the Federal Republic of Germany,
that an Omicron infection after vaccination
results in
an approximately 40-fold reduced neutralizing effect of antibodies
. This means that the antibodies cannot bind to the new virus variant as well and thus cannot render it harmless in all cases.
However, the dw puts some good news afterwards: According to the current state of knowledge, Omikron would be well recognized by the T cells.
Vaccines therefore retain their effectiveness against severe courses, especially if the immune system is stimulated again by a booster vaccination, according to Deutsche Welle.
It has not yet been conclusively clarified what long-term effects the appearance of the Omikron variant has on humans.
But first observations show that the course of the disease is milder.
In an interview with Merkur, Professor Reichl from LMU Munich talks about the new virus variant Omikron.
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Prof. Franz-Xaver Reichl, who is responsible for the biological safety of bacteria and viruses at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich, also explains in an interview with the Ippen Zentralredaktion: “The current status is that it (Omikron) is more infectious, but the first reports suggest that the course is not that difficult ”.
However, the risk of becoming infected with Omikron despite a full vaccination is high, says Reichl.
A booster vaccination improves the immune protection in such a way that it can also protect against infection with Omikron, according to microbiologist and toxicologist Reichl.
“The optimal protection against Omikron only arises after the third vaccination.
(...)
That is why it is now very, very important to boost as quickly as possible
”.
The non-plus-ultra, however, is also not the booster vaccination with regard to the risk of infection with Omikron: the booster should develop a little more than 25 percent protective effect, according to Reichl.
However, every vaccine dose, even if it is the second, is better than none, according to the virus expert.
Because the vaccination can effectively prevent severe progressions with hospitalization *.
(jg) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
