Scientists around the world rushed to study the Omicron variant to gain epidemiological insight into the most mutated variant of the coronavirus soon after South Africa confirmed its detection.
The haste is justified as they were curious to know how the vaccines would react to the variant that has more than 50 mutations, with 30 on the spike protein alone — the part of the virus that the vaccines target.
The preliminary results of two different studies have revealed that four coronavirus vaccines are ineffective against the Omicron variant, and people vaccinated with them are at an increased risk of contracting the new strain.
According to the first study conducted by Discovery Health — South Africa’s largest health insurance company — the efficacy of the two-dose Pfizer vaccine preventing severe Omicron infection drops to 70 percent, down from 93 percent against the Delta strain and 95 percent against the original coronavirus strain.
The second study by the leading Swiss antibody therapeutics company, Humabs BioMed, revealed that the COVID-19 vaccines by Johnson & Johnson (J&J), Sinopharm, and Sputnik V do not offer any protection against the Omicron variant.
Meanwhile, the manufacturers of Pfizer, J&J, Sinopharm, Sputnik V coronavirus vaccines have not issued any statements regarding these studies.
