Covid-19 booster dose provides good antibody protection against Omicron: Study

Higher levels of antibodies against the Omicron variant were also found in people who received two doses of either vaccine and also reported previously having Covid-19 symptoms, compared to those who had not previously had Covid symptoms.

London: A third ‘booster’ dose of the Covid-19 vaccine successfully raises antibody levels that neutralise the Omicron variant, according to laboratory findings.

Published as a research letter in The Lancet, researchers including from the Francis Crick Institute and UCLH Biomedical Research, found that antibodies generated in people who had received only two doses of either the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine or the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine were less able to neutralise the Omicron variant as compared to the Alpha and Delta variants.

They also found that antibody levels dropped off in the first three months following the second dose but a third `booster` dose raised levels of antibodies that effectively neutralised the Omicron variant.