Omicron variant, study data: symptoms, third dose, reinfections

The Omicron variant does not appear capable of causing more severe symptoms in covid sufferers or causing more deaths. Infections could increase among those already cured or vaccinated. The third dose of the vaccine is absolutely essential. While the first death linked to the variant is reported in Great Britain, the conclusions of a study conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford arrive. The results were disseminated on the ‘MedRxiv’ pre-print platform. The new Omicron variant of the coronavirus produces “a substantial drop in neutralizing titers, a measure of the level of neutralizing antibodies generated in response to anti-Covid vaccination or Covid-19 infection”. Therefore, “although there is no evidence of an increased potential for Omicron to cause severe disease or death, a growth in infections is likely in previously infected or immunized people.” The authors analyzed the effect of a virus isolate. live in Omicron ‘version’ on blood samples from people who had received two doses of the Oxford / AstraZeneca or Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine as part of the Com-Cov study. They then observed “a substantial decrease in neutralizing titers”, suggesting that “Omicron has the potential to drive a further wave of infections even among vaccinated people, although there is currently no evidence of an increased potential to cause severe Covid. hospitalizations or deaths in immunized populations “.” These results – explain the scientists – are in line with data recently published by the UK Health Security Agency, which show a reduced efficacy of two doses of the vaccine against the symptomatic disease associated with the Omicron variant compared to Delta”. However, scholars are keen to emphasize that “this effectiveness has been improved by a third dose of the vaccine”. For this reason, “increasing vaccination adherence among non-immunized and encouraging dose boosters remain the priority to reduce transmission levels and the potential burden of severe disease.”