Omicron variant and symptoms, Fauci: “Booster Pfizer and Moderna, data ok”

The booster dose of the Moderna vaccine and the Pfizer vaccine work to ensure protection against the Omicron variant, there is no need for a specific vaccine. The third dose of Moderna, in particular, offers 20 times more protection than that of the ordinary vaccination course. Professor Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says this in a virtual briefing at the White House. Read also “Some studies have been carried out in the country and in the world with the aim of observing how we could prepare ourselves in the field of vaccinations. The message is clear: if you are not vaccinated, get vaccinated. And in relation to Omicron, in particular: if you are vaccinated, take the booster dose “, adds Fauci. “The Omicron variant undoubtedly affects the antibody effects induced by two doses of the mRna vaccine and reduces protection. However, there remains considerable protection from severe disease,” continues the immunologist. In particular, a third dose of Moderna vaccine offers a 20 times more protection than that provided by two doses, according to a study by the National Institutes of Health. Fauci refers to data included in a laboratory study that will be published in preprint next week. Two weeks after the second dose of vaccine, the neutralizing activity against the Omicron variant is “substantially low” while there is a “substantial level” of improvement two weeks after the third dose, which is framed “within the range of neutralization of Omicron “. Mauci also anticipates data relating to the Pfizer booster dose, with a significant increase in antibody response: one month after the third dose, antibody levels are increased by 25 times compared to those detected 3 weeks after the second dose . “This – says Fauci – is one of a series of studies”.