BioNtech vaccine efficacy has reduced 27 times against omicron, says expert
Health expert says COVID-19 vaccines need to be adapted as new variants emerge
January 20, 2022
As per the recent research done by the University Hospital Frankfurt, the booster effectiveness of the BioNtech vaccine has been reduced by 27 times against the omicron variant, DW reported in a video interview with Timo Wolf, a member of the group COVID-19 developments at University Hospital Frankfurt.
Does this mean that individuals who have received booster shots may still contract the virus at some point? Dr Wolf was questioned by the journalist in the video.
Dr Wolf replied that by exposing the blood of vaccinated individuals to different virus variants, they discovered that the ability of people who received three BioNTech/Pfizer shots to mount an antibody response to omicron was up to 40% to 60% lower than the response to Delta.
'Never-ending loop?'
Vaccine manufacturers are developing vaccines that are adaptable to the omicron variant, but new variants will emerge eventually, necessitating the development of new vaccines. Isn't this a never-ending loop? the journalist asked.
Vaccines will almost certainly need to be adapted as new variants emerge, Dr Wolf said. It's similar to the situation with the influenza vaccine. We have a very good idea of the seasonality of infection in the areas where we are adapting vaccines, and it is not improbable that this will be done for COVID as well, he stated.
