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The new variant looks better than other versions of the virus encountered while escaping vaccine protection. “The Omicron is a much more powerful escape variant,” Şahin says.
The good news is that people who received a booster in the form of the third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had much better results. In this case, the vaccine’s ability to block the coronavirus was essentially restored.
The lab findings will mean governments rush to introduce booster doses. In the US, anyone over the age of 18 is eligible for a booster shot. since November 19, but vaccine resources in other countries remain limited.
If Omicron goes widely, governments and companies will also have to decide whether or not to update. messenger RNA vaccines Like Pfizer is targeting the variant. These types of vaccines work by sending copies of the viral “spike” gene into a person’s cells, thereby generating an immune response.
Because Omicron’s spike is so different, with more than 30 mutations, a new vaccine with its specific genetic code would work better against it.
BioNTech says it’s already designing an omicron vaccine and could replace the entire manufacturing process by March. “The only thing that has changed is the plan of the new variant,” says Şahin. “We will start producing and then we will decide whether to replace it or not.”
But until now, it remains unclear whether a new vaccine is needed or what kind of harm omycron can do.
Even two doses of the vaccine could prevent the variant from killing people. This is because vaccines create immunity not only through antibodies, but also through long-lived memory cells, including T cells. Omicron’s mutations often do not fall into the areas targeted by the T cells BioNTech studied.
Therefore, Şahin says, two doses of Pfizer can prevent serious illness, but it will take a month or two of data to know for sure.
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