People with immunity to original COVID-19 strain likely have some protection against Omicron: study
CTV
A new study has found that those who gained immunity to the original strain of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, likely have some protection against the Omicron variant.
The study, conducted by an international research team from Johns Hopkins Medicine, reports that people who have been vaccinated or exposed to infection have some level of protection against Omicron, since its mutations are not found in the parts of the virus that incite a cellular immune response.
However, researchers caution their finding only relates to one type of cellular immune response. Because of this, they say it may be the antibody-related immune response that fails when Omicron causes breakthrough infections.
The findings were published earlier this month in mBio, a peer-reviewed scientific journal from the American Society for Microbiology. The research was done in collaboration with the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and ImmunoScape, a U.S.-Singapore biotechnology company.
Researchers say the study reinforces other findings out of the United States and South Africa that have shown similar results for people previously infected by or vaccinated against the original strain of COVID-19.
