Two vaccine-makers said on Thursday that their booster shots significantly increased neutralising antibody levels against Omicron, in an encouraging sign amid rising Covid infections across the world due to the spread of the highly infectious variant. Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, citing data from an Oxford University lab study, said on Thursday that a three dose course of its Covid vaccine is effective against the rapidly-spreading Omicron variant.
Findings from the study, yet to be published in a peer-reviewed medical journal, match those from rivals Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, which have also found a third dose of their shots works against Omicron. The study on AstraZeneca’s vaccine, Vaxzevria that is known as Covishield in India, showed that after a three-dose course of the vaccine, neutralising levels against Omicron were broadly similar to those against the virus’s Delta variant after two doses. The London-listed company said researchers at Oxford who carried out the study were independent from those who worked on the vaccine with AstraZeneca.
“As we better understand Omicron, we believe we will find that T-cell response provides durable protection against severe disease and hospitalisations,” Mene Pangalos, the head of AstraZeneca’s biopharmaceuticals R&D said, referring to a critical component of the immune system that respond to fight infection. Antibody levels against Omicron after the booster shot were higher than antibodies in people who had been infected with and recovered naturally from Covid-19, the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker added. Although the early data is positive for the company, AstraZeneca has said that it was working with its partner Oxford to produce a vaccine tailored for Omicron, joining similar efforts from other vaccinemakers.
The Oxford study analysed blood samples from those infected with Covid-19, those vaccinated with two doses and a booster, and those previously infected with other variants of concern. It included samples from 41 people given three doses of the vaccine. Hours earlier, US drugmaker Novavax Inc said early data showed its two-dose, proteinbased vaccine vaccine — authorised for use by the EU and WHO but yet to be approved by the US — also generated an immune response against Omicron. Novavax said that receiving an additional booster dose of its vaccine further increased people’s immune response to Omicron.
The data was taken from Novavax’s ongoing studies of its vaccine's effectiveness in adolescents and as a booster. “We are encouraged that boosted responses against all variants,” said Gregory M. Glenn, Novavax’s president of research and development. Novavax is still working on developing an Omicron-specific vaccine and said Wednesday it expects to begin manufacturing doses of the variantspecific shot in JanuaryRead More