A flurry of new laboratory studies show that vaccines and booster shots may offer protection against the worst outcomes from the Omicron coronaviruses variant. According to the research, the highly-mysterious virus will still cause many breakthrough infections in people who have been exposed to older versions of the virus.
Scientists at a World Health Organization meeting reported on several studies that suggest T cells in vaccine recipients can put up a strong defense against the variant that could lead to severe disease, hospitalization and death.
Dr. Fauci shared preliminary data from the analysis of the Moderna vaccine. The protection shot up after a third dose after two shots produced a negligible response.
At the W.H.O. meeting, researchers showed that booster shots of either Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccines lifted the levels of antibodies back to levels believed to offer strong protection against infections.
The research is based on preliminary observations of cells in the laboratory, but it is still a welcome departure from the worrying new data about Omicron. Over the past week, it has become increasingly clear that Omicron can evade the body's first line of defense, which probably explains why the variant has exploded in many countries. A person's immune response to the virus is not limited to the antibodies. T cells have their own roles.
Wendy Burgers of the University of Cape Town said that the good news is that T cell responses are largely maintained to Omicron.
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The new variant was discussed by Dr. Fauci at the White House. He said that the booster vaccine regimen worked against Omicron.
Those who have received shots and those who haven't are more likely to get an Omicron infection than those who have recovered from an earlier coronaviruses.
Scientists in South Africa reported this week that two doses of the Pfizer vaccine were 33 percent effective against Omicron infections, down from 80 percent during the pre-Omicron era. The Pfizer vaccine gave 70 percent protection against severe hospitalization and death, down from 95 percent before Omicron was detected.
One scientist after another presented laboratory findings showing that vaccine-generated antibodies performed worse against Omicron than against other variations.
Boosters seem to give enough extra protection against these infections. Dr. Fauci said that scientists took blood from people who had two doses of the Moderna vaccine as well as from people who had a third dose. The researchers mixed the viruses with the serum.
The pseudoviruses were able to evade many people who had received two Moderna shots, but the boosters produced high levels of antibodies that were blocked from invading cells.
The message remains the same, if you are unvaccinated, get a booster shot.
The Biden administration is bracing for a potential wave of Omicron infections that could overwhelm the health care system. The percentage of coronaviruses cases in the United States caused by the Omicron variant has increased sharply and could possibly lead to a surge in infections as soon as next month, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Delta variant is the most popular version in the United States.
The administration is trying to encourage all Americans who received their second vaccine dose at least six months ago to get their booster shots. According to the C.D.C., 27 percent of Americans have had booster shots.
Many countries are rushing to increase their populations, but Omicron is spreading so fast it may well outstrip even the best efforts.
The projected transmission rates do not give us much time for interventions, according to Phil Krause, a former vaccine regulator at the Food and Drug Administration.
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There is a line for Covid boosters. Many countries are rushing booster shots to their populations, but Omicron may be spreading too quickly for them to keep up.
Many scientists hope that T cells will be an effective backup when they fail. If these immune cells can fight infections, they may prevent them from turning into disease.
T cells can learn to recognize the fragments of the coronaviruses that end up on the cell's outer surface. The immune system can launch a stronger attack against the virus if the T cells kill the cell.
Andrew Redd of the National Institutes of Health and Dr. Alessandro Sette of the La Jolla Institute for Immunology reported that most of the Omicron's fragments are the same as those of other variations.
The findings suggest that T cells will respond aggressively to Omicron, rather than standing by. The T cell response appears to be largely preserved.
Dr. Burgers and her colleagues collected T cells from 16 people who had received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and exposed them to fragments from the Omicron variant. The scientists found that the response of the T cells to the variant was 70 percent more powerful than the original version.
A number of scientists at the meeting warned that the data comes from studying cells in a laboratory. It will take a few more weeks of examining infections in people before it is clear how well T cells prevent severe disease.
According to a researcher at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, they don't know what the in vitro findings mean for disease severity. That is what it is all about. We want to prevent a collapse of the health care systems in our countries.
