Booster vaccination: Do Biontech and Moderna really protect against Omicron?

Created: 2022-01-14Updated: 2022-01-14 06:47

By: Lisa Klein

What is the level of protection against Omikron after a booster vaccination with Biontech or Moderna?

Data from the British health authority provide information. 

The government is concerned that the highly contagious virus variant Omicron 1.1.529* could soon trigger a 5th corona wave in Germany. The mutation is spreading rapidly: A total of 13,129 omicron infections (as of December 29, 2021) have already been detected in Germany, 1,274 omicron cases of them in Baden-Württemberg*, as

reports. In the fight against the corona pandemic, vaccinations are used in addition to strict measures* such as contact restrictions.

Since the vaccination protection from Biontech, Moderna and AstraZeneca decreases drastically over time, the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) now recommends booster vaccinations after just three months*.

Initial studies have shown that the vaccines approved in the EU do not provide optimal protection against the new virus variant.

Therefore, the vaccines should be adapted to Omikron.

However, it will still be a while before the corona vaccines are adapted.

How well do booster vaccinations with Biontech and Moderna currently protect?

Booster vaccination: how well do booster vaccinations protect against omicron?

In general, booster vaccinations in Germany are currently only carried out with Biontech or Moderna. The mRNA vaccines from the manufacturers Biontech/Pfizer and Moderna are more effective than the vector vaccines AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson - at least as far as protection against the original variant of the coronavirus is concerned. The Novavax corona vaccine, which has been newly approved in the EU, is said to be “better than vector vaccines for boosters”.

But the new virus variant could make vector vaccines more popular.

A new study on the effectiveness of AstraZeneca against omicron is surprising: The British manufacturer AstraZeneca and researchers from Oxford recently announced that laboratory studies have shown that a third vaccination with "Vaxzevria" increases the vaccinated person's antibody protection against omicron to the level of two doses.

However, the study has not yet been independently reviewed.

Booster vaccination: This is how well Biontech and Moderna protect against Omicron

But how does a booster vaccination with Biontech or Moderna affect the vaccination protection against Omikron? In the current Vaccination Report (published on December 23, 2021), the British Health Safety Authority published an assessment of the effectiveness of mRNA vaccines as boosters. The data from the British authority is based on 147,597 corona cases of the delta variant and 68,489 omicron cases.

As reported by

, a cross-vaccination of Biontech and Moderna proves to be the most effective.

To get the highest protection against the omicron variant, one dose of Moderna should be administered as a booster vaccination after two doses of Biontech.

Just one week after the booster with Moderna, the protection against a symptomatic disease with Omikron increases to around 70 percent.

The vaccination protection should then remain at this high level for at least three months.

A booster vaccination with Biontech after a basic immunization (two vaccinations) with Biontech also provides vaccination protection of around 70 percent against Omikron after about a week.

The decisive difference to a booster vaccination with Moderna: the protection levels off significantly after three months.

Booster vaccination: Vaccination protection after booster with Moderna at its highest

According to further study results, even after a basic immunization with AstraZeneca, a booster vaccination with Moderna should offer the best protection.

With a booster vaccination with Moderna after a basic immunization with AstraZeneca, vaccination protection of around 60 percent occurs after one week, this decreases after three months and drops to 40 percent.

The situation is similar at Biontech, where the vaccination protection against Omikron falls to just 35 percent on average after three months.

How high is the protection against omicron after a booster vaccination with Biontech or Moderna?

(Iconic image) © Mirko Hannemann/dpa

The British study does not reveal the effect of a booster vaccination with Moderna after primary vaccination with Johnson & Johnson or Moderna on protection against omicron.

There is also a lack of data on how effective a booster vaccination with Biontech is after a basic immunization with Moderna.

However, the study shows very clearly: A fourth corona vaccination seems to be generally necessary.

Soon there could be more general information on the subject of booster vaccinations: Israel is currently conducting a study on a fourth corona vaccination with Biontech*.

And according to HEIDELBERG24*, new corona variants in particular, such as B.1.640.2 from France, could require a fourth booster.

WHO continues to classify the risk from omicron as high

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the danger from the omicron variant of the coronavirus is still very high.

This was announced by the WHO in its weekly situation report.

According to previous observations, the variant is spreading much faster than the delta variant has done.

It is all the more important that vaccination protection is generally maintained and that people get boosters.

Even if the current vaccines do not provide optimal protection against an infection with omicron, the protection against a severe course is high even in the case of a disease with the virus variant.

explains which side effects can occur with a booster vaccination with Biontech and Moderna.