Omicron: Three Vaccine Doses Key For Protection Against Variant: BBC News, UK
- BBC, Dec. 10, 2021.
Two doses of a Covid vaccine are not enough to stop you catching the Omicron variant, UK scientists have warned. Early analysis of UK Omicron and Delta cases showed the vaccines were less effective at stopping the new variant. But a third booster prevents around 75% of people getting any Covid symptoms.
Meanwhile, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove, who chaired a meeting with first ministers of the devolved nations this afternoon, warned the UK faces a "deeply concerning situation". Speaking after the meeting of the government's emergency committee Cobra, he said measures taken so far were "proportionate", but ministers were "absolutely" keeping everything under review. "Action is absolutely required, and as new data comes in we will consider what action we do require to take in the face of that data," he added.
It comes as another 448 cases of Omicron were confirmed in the UK, taking the number reported so far to 1,265. The total number of Covid cases recorded on Friday was 58,194 - the highest figure since 9 January. The government has said it is updating its guidance for care homes in England - limiting the number of visitors allowed per resident, and increasing testing "in order to balance the current Covid-19 risk". [Omicron: How worried should we be? The latest lab science on Omicron's threat]
One of the main concerns since the heavily-mutated Omicron variant first emerged was that it would make vaccines less effective. The UK Health Security Agency report analysed data from 581 Omicron cases & thousands of Delta cases to calculate how effective the vaccines were against the new variant. The analysis is based on limited data, but showed a dramatic drop in effectiveness for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine & a significant drop off for 2 doses of Pfizer.
The 75% protection against Covid symptoms after a booster is not as high as against previous variants.
There was not enough data to analyse the Moderna or Janssen vaccines, but there is no reason to think they would have different results.
However, the UK Health Security Agency said vaccines were still likely to offer good protection against severe Covid that needed hospital treatment... https://www.bbc.com/news/health-59615005
