AstraZeneca booster increases antibodies against Omicron
BNN Bloomberg
A third dose of AstraZeneca Plc’s COVID-19 vaccine significantly boosted neutralizing antibodies against omicron, according to lab studies at the University of Oxford.
A third dose of AstraZeneca Plc’s COVID-19 vaccine significantly boosted neutralizing antibodies against omicron, according to lab studies at the University of Oxford.
The vaccine, created by Astra and Oxford, saw antibodies increase to similar levels as those after two doses against the delta variant with a booster shot, the drug company said Thursday. A third dose also produced higher levels of neutralizing antibodies than those found in individuals who had recovered naturally from the alpha, beta and delta strains.
The results are largely good news for the vaccine, which has been sidelined in the West as a booster after messenger RNA vaccines were shown to be more effective in various trials. The study looked at 41 people who had been given a third dose.
Omicron’s rapid spread and its ability to initially reduce antibody protection in many vaccines led many countries to launch accelerated booster campaigns. The U.K. alone reported more than 100,000 new COVID cases Wednesday for the first time, heaping pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has resisted imposing further restrictions before Christmas.
However, early studies out of South Africa, Scotland and England show the highly mutated omicron variant appears less likely to land patients in the hospital than delta. The findings raise hopes there will be fewer cases of severe disease, yet omicron’s greater infectiousness means it could still severely affect health services, fueling the need for boosters.
