Omicron mutation: How much do non-mRNA vaccines protect?

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All vaccines, especially mRNAs, appear to provide a significant degree of protection against the serious disease, hospitalization and risk of death due to Covid-19 disease caused by the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus. But only mRNA vaccines (Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna), especially when given the third dose, appear to be successful in preventing virus infection and simple infection, according to the first studies. And unfortunately these more advanced vaccines are not available in most of the world, but mainly only in developed countries.

Preliminary research shows that Covid-19 vaccines, which are not mRNA and are used in many countries, offer almost no protection against Omicron infection. This, according to the New York Times, concerns vaccines such as AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, the Chinese vaccines Sinopharm and Sinovac, and the Russian Sputnik, which provide more or less protection against serious disease, but do very little. to stop the spread of Omicron. Because many countries, especially developing countries, have based their vaccination programs on such non-mRNA vaccines, this could have serious implications for the 2022 pandemic.

A global outbreak of infection in a world where there are still billions of unvaccinated people not only threatens the health of vulnerable people but also increases the risk of new, worse coronavirus variants emerging. More generally, the ability of countries to deal with the pandemic is expected to expand in the future due to Omicron.

Most data – so far – are based on laboratory studies and not on clinical data, so they fail to take into account the full range of immune response. Nevertheless, they provide a first impression. The Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, which have state-of-the-art mRNA technology, provide the best protection against the risk of infection from any variant (including Omicron). Chinese, which accounts for almost half of all doses administered worldwide to date (partly because China’s population, which has made almost exclusively domestic vaccines is huge), offers almost zero protection against Omicron infection. Chinese vaccines have been widely administered in several other countries such as Mexico and Brazil.

According to initial data from the UK, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine did not show the ability to stop Omicron infection six months after vaccination. 90% of those vaccinated in India have had this vaccine under a different name (Covishield), and it has been widely administered in sub-Saharan Africa. The Russian Sputnik, which is also used in Africa and South America, according to scientists, is also predicted to be ineffective against Omicron infection. The monogamous Johnson & Johnson, which has been in high demand in Africa lately, has also shown little ability to block Omicron infection.

On the other hand, the above vaccines, according to the first studies, may not do well against mild or asymptomatic infection, but they have not significantly lost the ability to prevent serious disease. That, however, is not enough to prevent Omicron from creating global health problems.

Dr Seth Berkeley, chief executive of the GAVI Global Vaccine Alliance, said more data was needed before definitive conclusions could be reached on the effectiveness of all vaccines against Omicron, and that vaccinations around the world needed to be accelerated. In Africa, only 13% of the population have taken at least one dose of coronavirus. There are fears that the news that non-mRNA vaccines provide little protection against simple infection may undermine the willingness of people in poorer countries to be vaccinated, which would certainly be wrong given the ability of vaccines to significantly reduce the risk of hospitalization and death.

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