According to a British analysis based on 581 people with a confirmed Omikron variant, only a booster vaccination provides protection against diseases containing the Omikron coronavirus variant, orf.at reports. According to the NHS, people with two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines as well as Pfizer and Biontech had significantly lower protection against accidental infections compared to the delta variant, which is currently still prevalent in Austria.
In this study, data from 581 omicron cases and thousands of delta cases were analyzed to calculate the efficacy of vaccines against the novel variant. The BBC reported, citing the study, that the decrease in efficacy was particularly strong with the AstraZeneca vaccine. But there has also been a significant drop in vaccine from Pfizer and Biontech.
However, this study also found that after a booster vaccination with a vaccine from Biontech and Pfizer, there was about 70 to 75 percent protection against symptomatic infection — no matter which vaccine a person originally got. In addition, the agency predicts that vaccines may still prevent good protection against serious diseases through a hospital stay.
The UK is currently experiencing a sharp rise in the number of cases. A total of 817 Omicron cases had been confirmed in the UK as of Thursday evening. However, experts expect a very high number of unreported cases.
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