Obesity is a known risk factor for severe Covid-19. But a new small Turkish scientific study suggests that severe obesity may also reduce the effectiveness of coronavirus vaccines in vaccinated people who have never been infected with the virus and who have not thus acquired “hybrid” immunity (natural and vaccine).
Investigatorsled by Professor Volkan Demirhan Yumuk of University of Istanbulwho made the announcement at the European Union’s annual obesity study conference in Maastricht, the Netherlands (4-7 May), studied 124 people with severe obesity (body mass index over 40) with a mean age of 42 to 63 years, and 166 normal weight and mean age of 39 to 47 years, who were fully vaccinated with either Pfizer / BioNTech or the Chinese CoronaVac vaccine (also known as Sinovac). Four weeks after the second dose, blood samples were taken and analyzed to measure the antibodies generated against the coronavirus. It was also found that 70 had previously been infected with the virus.
What antibody levels showed
Among those who had not been infected with the coronavirus and had received the Pfizer / BioNtech vaccine, antibody levels in the severely obese were at least three times lower, compared to those vaccinated with normal weight (body mass index 18-25). In the case of obese people who had received the Chinese vaccine, the antibodies were 27 times less than in normal-weight vaccinated individuals (another clear indication of the lower efficacy of Chinese vaccines compared to Western mRNA vaccines).
Among those previously infected with the coronavirus and also vaccinated with Pfizer / BioNTech or CoronoVac, Antiviral antibody levels were similar in severely obese and normal weight patients.
«These findings highlight the importance of prioritizing and increasing vaccination in the vulnerable group of people with severe obesity.“, Said the Dr. Yumukas these people, if they have not acquired any natural immunity after Covid-19 infection, should get a booster dose of vaccine especially after the prevalence of Omicron.
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