Booster dose effective against Omicron - UK study
UK: A third booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine provides 70-75 per cent protection against symptomatic infection from the Omicron variant, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said on Friday.
In its latest technical briefing, the agency said that two doses of both the Oxford/AstraZeneca — administered in India as Covishield — and Pfizer/BioNtech vaccines provide “much lower levels” of protection against symptomatic infection compared to the currently dominant Delta variant of COVID-19.
However, a third top-up dose does seem to boost immunity against the new variant, based on an analysis of data from 581 Omicron cases.
“It is projected that if current trends continue unchanged, the UK will exceed one million infections by the end of this month,” the UKHSA said.
“The preliminary data showed effectiveness against the new variant appears to increase considerably in the early period after a booster dose, providing around 70-75 per cent protection against symptomatic infection. Due to the early nature of the findings, all estimates are subject to significant uncertainty and are subject to change,” it said.
The health experts reiterated that vaccines were still likely to offer good protection against severe COVID, which required hospital treatment.
Meanwhile, the UK will move to “Plan B” restrictions to combat the rapid spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant this winter, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced.
At a Downing Street press conference on Wednesday night, the Prime Minister asked people to work from home when possible from December 13 and that face masks would be a legal requirement in “most public indoor” areas such as theatres and cinemas from Friday.
However, he said the new measures were “not a lockdown” and people “should not” cancel Christmas parties or Nativity plays, and nightclubs will remain open.
Meanwhile, South Africa will next month start giving Pfizer booster shots against coronavirus, a health official said today, a day after the country reported a near-record high in daily cases of the disease.
“The first people who will qualify for the booster dose in South Africa will be people over the age of 60 years,” Dr Nicolas Crisp, Director General at the Health Ministry, told a weekly news conference.
Slightly more than a quarter of South Africa’s population are fully vaccinated, with the figure among adults being 43 per cent. Omicron accounts for around 70 per cent of new infections being detected in South Africa, Health Minister Joe Phaahla has said. However, hospitalised patients are so far showing mild symptoms, he said.
Meanwhile, Tens of thousands gathered in Austria’s capital Vienna on Saturday to protest mandatory COVID vaccines and home confinement orders for those who have not yet received the jabs.
Police said an estimated 44,000 people attended the demonstration, the latest in a string of huge weekend protests since Austria last month became the first EU country to say it would make COVID vaccinations mandatory.
A partial confinement since last month ends on Sunday for the vaccinated, but those who have not received the required doses will have to remain at home.
Vaccination is to be obligatory from February for all residents older than 14, except in the case of a dispensation for health reasons.
Nobody will be vaccinated by force, the government has said, but those who refuse the shot will have to pay a initial fine of 600 euros ($670), which can then increase to 3,600 euros ($4,000) if not settled. - THE INDIAN EXPRESS, IANS, THE MALAY MAIL, JAPAN TODAY
source https://www.dailynews.lk/2021/12/13/world/267160/booster-dose-effective-against-omicron-uk-study
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