Vaccines for Omicron
Currently, there are no vaccines that fully protect against Omicron. Omicron may cause high fever and may hospitalize you.
Expat health insurance may pay for your hospitalisation.
Inpatient insurance pays if you spend one night or more in a private hospital bed. Inpatient + outpatient insurance should pay for any hospitalisation or local trips to your local doctor or clinic.
How Different is Omicron to the Common Cold?
According to data from the ZOE Covid study, which tracks reports of symptoms uploaded to an app by the public, the new “rapidly spreading” strain is producing “mild” symptoms that are “very hard” to differentiate from a common cold without testing.
Omicron symptoms include headaches, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, fatigue, sneezing and coughing.
Vaccines that Protect Against Omicron
According to an Oxford study, Omicron can hit the fully vaccinated.
- In a new study announced on Monday, researchers from the University of Oxford tested blood samples of people 28 days after their second dose of either the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
- When omicron was introduced to those samples, scientists reported “a substantial fall” in the neutralizing antibodies that fight off Covid compared to the immune responses seen against earlier variants.
Two doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer–BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines are substantially less effective at warding off omicron compared to previous variants of the coronavirus, scientists have found.
However, the researchers were optimistic that a booster shot would improve immunity against the new, highly transmissible variant.
In a new study announced on Monday, researchers from the University of Oxford tested blood samples of people 28 days after their second dose of either vaccine.
The research paper noted that some vaccine recipients “failed to neutralize [the virus] at all.”
Gavin Screaton, head of Oxford University’s Medical Sciences Division and lead author of the paper, said in a press release on Monday that the findings should
“press home the message that those who are offered booster vaccination should take it.”
“Whilst there is no evidence for increased risk of severe disease, or death, from the virus amongst vaccinated populations, we must remain cautious, as greater case numbers will still place a considerable burden on healthcare systems,” he warned.
“Vaccination induces many arms of our immune system, including neutralizing antibodies and T-cells,” added co-author Teresa Lambe, a professor of vaccinology at the University of Oxford.
“Real-world effectiveness data has shown us that vaccines continue to protect against severe disease with previous variants of concern. The best way to protect us going forward in this pandemic is by getting vaccines in arms.”
A report published by the U.K.’s Health Security Agency on Friday estimated that two doses of a Covid vaccine were significantly less effective at preventing symptomatic disease through infection from the omicron variant compared to delta.
However, the report noted that after a booster dose, vaccines were thought to be 70 to 75% effective at preventing symptomatic infections.
With previous variants, vaccine effectiveness against severe disease, including hospitalization and death, has been higher than effectiveness against mild disease,” the UKHSA said.
“It will be a few weeks before effectiveness against severe disease with Omicron can be estimated, however based on this experience, this is likely to be substantially higher than the estimates against symptomatic disease.”
Elsewhere, an Israeli study published on Saturday found that a three-dose course of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine provided significant protection against the omicron variant.
Israel began its booster program in July. Elsewhere, an Israeli study published on Saturday found that a three-dose course of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine provided significant protection against the omicron variant. Israel began its booster program in July.
According to Washington D.C.-based news site NPR, US researchers have reported that preliminary results suggest three doses of the Moderna vaccine are also “effective” against Omicron.
“Scientists are doing similar experiments testing the Johnson and Johnson vaccine alone, as well as the J&J vaccine with a Pfizer booster,” the site continued.