Three doses of a COVID vaccine may not be enough to stop the highly transmissible Omicron strain of COVID from spreading, according to Ugur Sahin, CEO of BioNTech in Germany.
The strain, which is known to evade vaccination protection, has spread to around 90 nations, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
BioNTech partnered with US drugmaker Pfizer to develop the two-dose revolutionary COVID jab, based on mRNA technology.
Despite this, Sahin noted that early data from the UK and South Africa is providing us with “reassuring information
The latest research from South Africa, where Omicron was first reported, suggested that two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine offered 70 percent effectiveness in reducing the risk of hospitalisation.
Israeli researchers have also found that the booster doses of the vaccine works against Omicron.
Sahin said testing for COVID-19 is important, especially for the elderly and during winter, as are other protective measures such as mask-wearing, adding, “otherwise we will not be able to control the rapid expansion of this new variant”.
The German company is already designing a coronavirus vaccine adapted to the new variant, using Omicron’s spike protein and its 32 mutations as an antigen. Sahin announced this should be ready by March, the report said.
Some researchers have voiced concern about the effect of these new vaccines as instead of boosting new immune defences, they could risk boosting inadequate ones.
“This principle is an unproven hypothesis, personally, I don’t think this is a real problem. The immune system has high adaptability and plasticity, and should be able to activate both, strengthening existing immune responses while generating new antibodies,” Sahin said, adding “but we will obviously have to assess it.”
It is still unclear how effective vaccines are against the new variant, the WHO said.
Meanwhile, Moderna, which has also produced an mRNA vaccine, on Monday said that a booster dose of its vaccine appeared to be protective against Omicron.
It also said a full dose of 100 micrograms boosted antibody levels 83-fold.
