Booster shot from AstraZeneca works against omikron variant

ALSO READ. How sick do we get from booster shots, what determines whether we don’t feel well and who suffers from side effects?

A booster shot significantly increases the amount of antibodies against the omikron variant, the new lab research shows. Two shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine already protect against the variant, but less than against the other variants. The study analyzed blood samples from test subjects who had been infected with Covid-19, had received two shots, had received a booster shot or had previously been infected with another variant. 41 test subjects had received a booster shot.

The antibody levels of the subjects who received a booster shot were higher than those of the subjects who were previously infected with the alpha, beta or delta variant or the original strain of coronavirus and recovered. One month after the booster injection, the blood serums of the test subjects neutralized the omikron variant to a similar extent as blood serums of test subjects with two injections eliminated the delta variant.

“It is very encouraging to see that current vaccines have the potential to protect against the omikron variant after a booster shot. These results support the use of the booster dose as part of national vaccination strategies, in particular to limit the spread of variants of concern, including the omikron variant,” said Professor Sir John Bell of the University of Oxford.

— .