Covid-19: Do vaccines work against omicron—and other questions answered

Mahase, Elisabeth

doi:10.1136/bmj.n3062

Cited by 37 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Consistent with our finding, recent immunological investigations observed a more decreased immune humoral response among older people and nursing home residents and also among males and persons with immunosuppression [10][11][12]. It is for this reason important to continue the surveillance in order to study the effects of additional booster doses in specific groups as well as in the population more broadly, and to monitor protection against VOC [13].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Surveillance of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness: a real-time case–control study in southern Sweden

et al. 2022

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The extensive register infrastructure available for coronavirus disease 2019 surveillance in Scania county, Sweden, makes it possible to classify individual cases with respect to hospitalisation and disease severity, stratify on time since last dose and demographic factors, account for prior infection and extract data for population controls automatically. In the present study, we developed a case-control sampling design to surveil vaccine effectiveness (VE) in this ethnically and socioeconomically diverse population with more than 1.3 million inhabitants. The first surveillance results show that estimated VE against hospitalisation and severe disease 0-3 months after the last dose remained stable during the study period, but waned markedly 6 months after the last dose in persons aged 65 years or over.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Surveillance of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness: a real-time case–control study in southern Sweden

et al. 2022

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“…Since the previously developed vaccines are not entirely efficacious, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, the manufacturers of the two mRNA vaccines, claimed that they could make an mRNA-based vaccine against Omicron in 100 days ( Burki, 2021 ). Encouraging updates from Pfizer and BioNTech as well as Moderna in the preparation of Omicron-specific vaccine ( Mahase, 2021c ) could lead to an optimistic future to combat the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2.The continuous evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and the situation being out of control contributes to the COVID-19 pandemic's prolongation, putting the entire world at risk of COVID-19 and its devastating impacts on global health and severe economic consequences ( Petersen et al, 2022 ). However, opinion of evolutionary biologist Jesse Bloom is somewhat relieving who is telling that Omicron would not be eradicated, rather it will permanently establish itself in human like other seasonal CoVs and have been circulating in human being since decades ( Callaway, 2021c ).…”

Section: Readiness For Omicron Specific Vaccinementioning

confidence: 99%

Emergence of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant, salient features, high global health concerns and strategies to counter it amid ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

Khandia

Singhal

Alqahtani

et al. 2022

Environmental Research

236

196

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Since the appearance in the late of December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 is rapidly evolving and mutating continuously, giving rise to various variants with variable degrees of infectivity and lethality. The virus that initially appeared in China later mutated several times, wreaking havoc and claiming many lives worldwide amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. After Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta variants, the most recently emerged variant of concern (VOC) is the Omicron (B.1.1.529) that has evolved due to the accumulation of high numbers of mutations especially in the spike protein, raising concerns for its ability to evade from pre-existing immunity acquired through vaccination or natural infection as well as overpowering antibodies-based therapies. Several theories are on the surface to explain how the Omicron has gathered such a high number of mutations within less time. Few of them are higher mutation rates within a subgroup of population and then its introduction to a larger population, long term persistence and evolution of the virus in immune-compromised patients, and epizootic infection in animals from humans, where under different immune pressures the virus mutated and then got reintroduced to humans. Multifaceted approach including rapid diagnosis, genome analysis of emerging variants, ramping up of vaccination drives and receiving booster doses, efficacy testing of vaccines and immunotherapies against newly emerged variants, updating the available vaccines, designing of multivalent vaccines able to generate hybrid immunity, up-gradation of medical facilities and strict implementation of adequate prevention and control measures need to be given high priority to handle the on-going SARS-CoV-2 pandemic successfully.

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“…The new SARS-CoV-2 variation B.1.1.529, which was discovered in South Africa, was given the name 'Omicron' by WHO on November 26. Omicron has been categorized under 'Variant of Concern,' according to the WHO [161]. A summary of the information on the variants of SARS-CoV-2 has been provided in Table 1.…”

Section: Efficacy Of Covaxin and Covishield Against Mutant Variantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immunogenic and reactogenic efficacy of Covaxin and Covishield: a comparative review

et al. 2022

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SARS-CoV-2 is an RNA virus that was identified for the first time in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. The World Health Organization (WHO) labeled the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak a worldwide pandemic on March 11, 2020, due to its widespread infectivity pattern. Because of the catastrophic COVID-19 outbreak, the development of safe and efficient vaccinations has become a key priority in every health sector throughout the globe. On the 13th of January 2021, the vaccination campaign against SARS-CoV-2 was launched in India and started the administration of two types of vaccines known as Covaxin and Covishield. Covishield is an adenovirus vector-based vaccine, and Covaxin was developed by a traditional method of vaccine formulation, which is composed of adjuvanted inactivated viral particles. Each vaccine’s utility or efficiency is determined by its formulation, adjuvants, and mode of action. The efficacy of the vaccination depends on numeral properties like generation antibodies, memory cells, and cell-mediated immunity. According to the third-phase experiment, Covishield showed effectiveness of nearly 90%, whereas Covaxin has an effectiveness of about 80%. Both vaccination formulations in India have so far demonstrated satisfactory efficacy against numerous mutant variants of SARS-CoV-2. The efficacy of Covishield may be diminished if the structure of spike (S) protein changes dramatically in the future. In this situation, Covaxin might be still effective for such variants owing to its ability to produce multiple antibodies against various epitopes. This study reviews the comparative immunogenic and therapeutic efficacy of Covaxin and Covishield and also discussed the probable vaccination challenges in upcoming days.

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Covid-19: Do vaccines work against omicron—and other questions answered

Cited by 37 publications

References 5 publications

Surveillance of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness: a real-time case–control study in southern Sweden

Surveillance of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness: a real-time case–control study in southern Sweden

Emergence of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant, salient features, high global health concerns and strategies to counter it amid ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

Immunogenic and reactogenic efficacy of Covaxin and Covishield: a comparative review

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