A new analysis from South Africa has shown that the Omicron virus vaccine by Pfizer BioNTech is less effective than earlier strains.
Discovery Health published the study in collaboration with South African Medical Research Council. The findings show that the two doses Pfizer vaccine were only 33% effective for infection during this Omicron-dominated wave.
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The vaccine, which does not include booster shots, is still effective in preventing serious Covid infections. It provides 70 percent protection. “severe complications”The virus could require hospitalization. However, this level of protection is lower than the 93% that was found in previous waves of Delta variant cases.
“Superb genetic surveillance by the Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa identified that Omicron infection accounts for over 90% of new infections in South Africa, and has displaced the formerly dominant Delta variant,”Chief executive of Discovery Dr. Ryan Noach said. He said the Omicron Wave is still in progress. “has a significantly steeper trajectory of new infections and test positivity rates.”
This study examined over 211,000 Covid-19 positive cases from South Africa. 41% had been fully vaccinated with at least two doses of Pfizer BioNTech. The Omicron variant was the most popular positive test. It was initially discovered in Southern Africa, but it has now been found in many other countries.
The variant is not well-known. The cases were taken from November 15 to December 7, South Africa, during the three-week period following the discovery.
Covid-19 is no longer available for people who have had it previously. “significantly higher”According to the study, there is a lower risk of being re-infected by the Omicron strain than with other strains.
Officials from the health sector involved in the study cautioned that these preliminary results were not conclusive as much remains to be discovered about Omicron and Covid-19.
“This is early data and requires careful follow up,”Shirley Collie is chief health analytics and actuary at Discovery Health.
South Africa has witnessed a rise in Covid cases since Omicron was discovered. Their seven-day rolling average rose from 8 new cases for 100,000 people in late Nov to around 34 new cases for 100,000 on December 13th.
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