Pfizer Inc’s vaccine provides partial immunity to the omicron variant than of the other major variants, according to a laboratory experiment which indicates a booster shot may be required, according to a Bloomberg report.
According to Bloomberg, researchers at the Africa Health Research Institute in Durban, South Africa found the omicron variants blocks antibodies by 40-fold in people who have received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech SE shot when compared to the strains detected in China almost two years ago.
Alex Sigal, head of research at the laboratory during a presentation of experiments said, the loss of immune protection is “robust but not complete”.
“There would be more breakthough” of vaccine-induced immunity, Sigal said. “A good booster probably would decrease your chance of infection, especially severe infection leading to more severe disease. People who haven’t had a booster should get one, and people who have been previously infected should be vaccinated.”
Meanwhile CEO of Pfizer, Albert Bourla on Tuesday said omicron variant appears to be milder than previous strains but also has fast transmissibility implying could lead to more mutations in future.
“I don’t think it’s good news to have something that spreads fast,” Bourla told The Wall Street Journal during an interview at the paper’s CEO Council Summit. “Spreads fast means it will be in billions of people and another mutation may come. You don’t want that.”