New Omikron study on vaccines Astrazeneca, Biontech, Moderna: Booster with enormous impact
Created: 01/04/2022, 11:41 AM
From: Martina Lippl
Omikron overruns Great Britain.
The government is promoting boosters to slow the fifth wave.
© Stephen Chung / imago
How well does a booster protect against omicrons?
New studies from the UK give hope.
Data show how a booster, but also a vaccine dose, works against the new Corona variant.
London - The speed of the Omicron variant is immense. Britain has more than 150,000 corona cases in 24 hours on Monday alone. The country is seen as a role model when it comes to genome sequencing. With the rapid spread of the Omikron variant, Great Britain has good data - also with regard to the situation in hospitals and the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccinations. The latest findings: The booster protects 90 percent from being admitted to a clinic. This is announced by the British health authority Health Security Agency (UKHSA) (as of December 31, 2021). For this purpose, the UKHSA evaluated two new studies with a data set of around half a million Omicron cases.
According to the analysis, the risk of being hospitalized or going to an emergency room after a confirmed Omicron infection is halved compared to Delta.
Especially after a vaccination and a booster, the risk of hospitalization falls by 85 percent compared to unvaccinated people.
Corona variant Omikron and vaccines: that's what the new data say
"The data shows again that vaccination, especially a third dose, is the best way to protect yourself and others from infection and serious illness," said Susan Hopkins, medical director of the Health Security Agency.
"The latest analysis is in line with the encouraging signs we've seen," continued Hopkins.
However, in their opinion, it is still too early to draw any final conclusions about admissions to hospitals.
Omikron is highly contagious and the number of people over 60 is increasing.
Hopkins therefore believes it is very likely that the British health system could come under pressure in the next few weeks.
The US reports an unprecedented increase in the number of infections because of Omikron.
The intensive care units are full.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) publishes data on Omikron
A vaccine dose - regardless of the vaccine - reduces the risk of hospitalization by 52 percent - in the case of a symptomatic infection with the Omikron variant.
Two doses of vaccine reduce the risk of hospital admission for up to 24 weeks by 72 percent.
Two doses of vaccine reduce the risk of hospital admission after more than 25 weeks by 52 percent.
A booster - usually a third vaccination - reduces hospitalization by 88 percent compared to an unvaccinated person.
Omikron overruns Great Britain.
The government is promoting boosters to slow the fifth wave.
© Stephen Chung / imago
British data: This is how a booster protects against Omicron infection
According to an evaluation of the currently available data, all vaccines show less protection against symptomatic infection with the Omikron variant compared to Delta.
At Astrazeneca there was no effective vaccine protection 20 weeks after the second vaccination dose against Omikron.
At Biontech / Pfizer and Moderna, vaccination protection dropped from 65 to 70 percent to 10 percent after 20 weeks after the second dose.
A booster increased vaccination protection by 65 to 75 percent after two to four weeks.
Then the protective effect falls from 55 to 70 percent in the five to new weeks and after ten weeks to 40 to 50 percent.
Time after booster | after two to four weeks | after five to new weeks | after more than ten weeks |
---|---|---|---|
Booster effect | 65 to 75 percent | 55 to 70 percent | 40 to 50 percent |
In Germany, the corona incidence is increasing for the sixth day in a row.
In view of the threat of an omicron wave, corona vaccines play an important role.
The first results on Moderna, Biontech and Co. are already available.
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