The new variant of the virus appears to be better than the other versions. ahin says that Omicron is a stronger variant.
The good news is that people who got a third dose of the vaccine had better results. The vaccine's ability to block the coronaviruses was restored.
The lab findings will prompt a rush by governments. In the US, everyone over the age of 18 can get a booster shot since November 19th.
Governments and companies will have to decide whether to update messenger RNA vaccines if omicron spreads widely. The vaccine works by shuttling copies of the viral "spike" gene into a person's cells.
A new vaccine with its specific genetic code would work better against omicron because it has more than 30 mutations.
By March, BioNTech says it could shift its entire manufacturing process over to an omicron vaccine. ahin says the only thing that hasn't changed is the new variant. We will decide whether to switch after producing it.
It's not clear whether a new vaccine is needed or what kind of damage omicron can do.
Two vaccine doses can still prevent the variant from killing people. Vaccines create immunity through long-lived memory cells, including T cells. The areas that BioNTech has studied do not include areas where Omicron's mutations fall.
It will take a couple of months of data to know for sure, but two doses of Pfizer may still prevent serious disease.
