By The SUN
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| BioNTech offers much less protection against Omicron than with the regular Covid-19 |
The BioNTech vaccine against the coronavirus may be much
less effective against the Omicron variant of the virus but is still likely to
prevent death and severe diseases, according to a joint study by Hong Kong’s
top two universities.
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A similar study is being conducted using the Sinovac vaccine, but experts say the protection should be even less, given that the antibody levels in those who received this vaccine were lower than those who had BioNTech.
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The study released earlier today, Dec 12, makes the case for a booster jab for everyone in Hong Kong to protect them against the latest Covid-19 variant, said David Hui, one of the government’s advisers on its pandemic strategy.
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Hui is with the Chinese University of Hong Kong, which conducted the joint medical research with the University of Hong Kong. Their study showed that BioNTech is 32 times weaker in killing the Omicron variant than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus.
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| Hui says the study shows why it is important to get a booster shot |
The team collected blood samples from 10 people one month after they received their second dose of the BioNTech vaccine, the time when the highest level of antibodies was expected.
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They then tested the samples against the original form of the coronavirus, and on the Omicron variant which was isolated from the first patient found to have carried it into Hong Kong.
The results showed the vaccine’s virus-killing potency was a lot weaker against the Omicron than with the original Covid-19.
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“We can see that most individuals had high levels of virus killing (neutralization)
activity against the original SARS-CoV-2 but this ability was markedly reduced
by 32 folds or more against the Omicron variant,” Professor Malik Peiris, who
led the study, said in a press release today.
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The experts said they will also test the effectiveness of booster shots.
They said vaccines are still likely to offer effective protection against death and severe disease, especially for the elderly and those with a compromised immune system or other chronic diseases. They urged these high-risk groups to get booster shots as soon as possible.
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| Peiris led the research team from the 2 top universities |
Meanwhile, Hui said on a radio program on Sunday that with
the research findings, the Omicron variant might make it necessary for all
residents to get an extra dose.
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A scientific committee under the Department of Health will meet on Dec 23 for experts to discuss whether to make third jabs available to more groups.
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