Omicron vaccination protection: Biontech, Moderna, AstraZeneca - Which remedy works best

Created: 02/12/2022, 16:13

By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi

Which vaccine works best against the omicron mutation?

© Sven Hoppe/dpa/symbol picture

The omicron variant of the coronavirus has supplanted delta as the predominant mutation.

But which vaccine works best against the new highly contagious mutant?

Munich – In November 2021, a new term suddenly established itself in the wake of the corona pandemic: the omicron variant.

Researchers noted that this new mutation of the virus is more contagious than the delta variant and will drive up infection numbers.

However, research has also shown that the course of the disease is significantly milder.

Now Germany is in the midst of an omicron wave.

The role of vaccination, particularly that of booster vaccination, is particularly important given the highly contagious nature of the omicron mutant.

But researchers also found that the new mutation can more easily bypass the effects of the vaccines.

Now the question arises for many: which vaccine still works best against omicron?

Corona vaccination: Omicron more resistant to current antibodies - research team demands adjustment

The greater resistance of omicron to vaccines is evidenced, among other things, by a study by the University Medical Center Göttingen and the Leibniz Institute for Primate Research Göttingen on December 28, 2021. The researchers came to the conclusion that the omicron mutation is largely resistant to current antibodies.

So-called cell culture studies showed that the new variant avoids the antibodies formed after infection and vaccination.

A second vaccination improved the situation only minimally: there, too, the effectiveness of the vaccine against omicron was found to be lower than that of the Delta variant.

At the same time, the research also found that most therapeutic antibodies used to treat Covid-19 are not effective against omicron.

In order to eliminate this, the research team required an adaptation of the antibodies to the current infection situation with the predominance of the omicron mutation.

However, there is also positive news among the research results from Göttingen: A third vaccination against the virus could provide good protection against omicron.

Corona vaccination: A very specific vaccination combination works particularly well against omicron mutants

However, not all vaccinations have the same effect with regard to the highly contagious omicron variant.

The researchers from Göttingen emphasized triple vaccination with BioNTech or cross-immunization with AstraZeneca and BioNTech as the most effective options.

The British authority "UK Health Security Agency" provided more precise assessments on the subject.

In a regularly published vaccination report, the researchers examined almost 148,000 delta cases and around 69,000 omicron cases at the end of 2021.

A high level of uncertainty was pointed out, since the results were relatively early.

Nevertheless, the report provided important insights.

One thing in advance: no matter which combination was used for triple vaccination, the effectiveness of the vaccination against Omicron was in no case higher than against Delta.

The study delivered encouraging results with regard to the combination of a primary immunization with BioNTech and a booster vaccination with Moderna.

The researchers came up with the best values ​​there: even nine weeks after the refresher, the protection here is 70 to 75 percent, according to the study.

If you get all three vaccinations with BioNTech, you are only 45 percent protected after ten weeks.

The combination of basic immunization with AstraZeneca and booster with BioNTech or Moderna showed a comparatively lower effectiveness.

Two to four weeks after the booster, you are protected by around 60 percent with both combinations.

After ten weeks, BioNTech's protection dropped to 35 percent and Moderna's to 45 percent.

In the UK Health Security Agency's most recent report of February 10, these results remained largely the same.

However, there was only a significant change in the effectiveness of the combination of two BioNTech and one booster vaccination by Moderna.

The British authority's report estimates the protection of this combination at only 60 to 65 percent after 10 weeks.

According to the report, despite the observed lower effectiveness against Omicron compared to the end of the year, this combination still proves to be the most effective protection against the mutation.