The new omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading extremely quickly. The daily number of infections reached new record highs worldwide. In Switzerland, too, almost 20,000 people are infected with the virus every day.
New data from England now show: The vaccination also works against Omikron. Because the variant partially bypasses the protective effect of the substances, the booster is required for the best possible protection.
Blick has taken apart the data from the British Ministry of Health, in which a total of almost 200,000 cases were examined.
Unvaccinated people with the highest hospital risk
The data from England show that unvaccinated Omicron patients in particular end up in hospitals. Unsurprisingly. In Swiss hospitals, too, over 90 percent of all corona patients are unvaccinated. The data from England are similar. The risk of hospitalization is 81 percent lower for those who have already been boosted than for those who have not been vaccinated.
The data also shows that the vaccine combination determines how well you are protected.
It starts next week: Pfizer boss Sabine Bruckner on the children’s vaccine(01:41)
Pfizer vaccination: Best protection according to Moderna-Booster
Anyone who has been vaccinated twice with Pfizer has about 60 percent protection against symptomatic disease from Omikron two to four weeks after the second vaccination.
After that, however, the protection decreases. After 24 weeks, protection against symptomatic omicron disease is almost zero. Against Delta, the protection of the double Pfizer vaccination is still just over 60 percent.
The booster vaccination helps and increases protection significantly. Cross-vaccination works best. Anyone who has Moderna boosters after a double Pfizer vaccination increases the protective effect to over 80 percent. Even five to nine weeks after the booster vaccination, the protection is still over 70 percent. According to the scientists, these are the highest protection values measured.
Anyone who can be boosted with the same vaccine after two Pfizer vaccinations increases the protection to 70 percent for a short time. After 9 weeks it is still almost 50 percent. Against Delta, the protection against symptomatic illness is still 90 to 100 percent.
Vaccination chief Christoph Berger: “Much better protection against Omikron with Booster”(01:35)
Moderna vaccination: Booster also helps
With a vaccination with Moderna, there is protection of almost 50 percent against Omicron disease between two to four weeks after the second dose. This then decreases, after 19 weeks the protection factor is practically zero. However, the vaccination is still 80 percent effective against Delta.
The English scientists were unable to determine exactly how high the booster effect is with another dose of Moderna. This is because only a few people on the island have received a Moderna booster.
However, data from the USA show that the Moderna-Booster helps prevent the symptomatic course of the disease. Studies by the vaccine manufacturer itself increase the protection by a third dose by a factor of 37. The US immunologist Anthony Fauci also said just a few days ago that the booster vaccination from Moderna protects well against Omikron.
The scientists have not yet been able to investigate how protection develops over a longer period of time. The booster is not inoculated for too long for this. (zis)