COVID-19 Scan for Jan 13, 2022
Omicron likely less susceptible to antibodies from vaccinated peopleAustrian scientists writing in a letter in the New England Journal of Medicine yesterday demonstrate poor neutralization of the Omicron variant when using serum from vaccinated or recovered COVID-19 patients, potentially signaling a need for variant-specific vaccines.The highly transmissible Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant has caused COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations to skyrocket across the globe, even though it might cause less severe disease than previous variants.The researchers used blood from a variety of patients: 10 had been infected with the Alpha variant, 8 with Beta, and 7 with Delta.
Ten had received two doses of the Moderna vaccine, 10 the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, and 20 the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine; 20 participants had received both AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines.
In addition, 5 donors had been infected and subsequently received one or two doses of Pfizer, and 5 had been vaccinated with two doses of one of the three vaccines and had breakthrough infections.The team didn't analyze serum samples from people who had received a booster vaccine dose.Serum samples from vaccinated persons neutralized the Omicron variant to a much lesser extent than Alpha, Beta, or Delta.
The investigators found some cross-neutralization of Omicron in samples obtained from people who had received either the Pfizer vaccine or the AstraZeneca-Pfizer combo but not in samples from persons who had received AstraZeneca only.
United States
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Cases: 46 252 513
Deaths: 750 423
Recovered: 0
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India
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Cases: 34 321 025
Deaths: 459 652
Recovered: 0
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Brazil
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Cases: 21 835 785
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United Kingdom
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Cases: 9 215 683
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Russia
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Cases: 8 494 589
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