When the omicron variant was detected in a person for the first time in November 2021, science was in turmoil. Nobody knew how severe the course of the disease would be, nor how easily people could become infected with the new variant. Nothing was known about immune protection after infection.
Omicron is no longer so mysterious. The variant is more contagious than its predecessors, but leads to a mild course of the disease – and allows the corona measures in Switzerland to be relaxed. Researchers are now a little smarter when it comes to immune protection.
Vaccinated people produce more antibodies against omicron than unvaccinated people
As the “Spiegel” reports, researchers from Austria have gained another important insight into Omicron. According to the study, vaccinated and those who have already recovered apparently form neutralizing antibodies against all corona variants, including omicron. Unvaccinated, however, only against omicron, and then only to a lesser extent. The study has not yet been reviewed by independent experts.
For the study, the virologists and doctors examined plasma samples from patients who had survived an omicron infection. 15 of them were vaccinated, 13 unvaccinated. Ten of the vaccinated people had already recovered from another variant prior to their omicron infection. The 13 unvaccinated people had already contracted another variant before Omikron.
Omicron variant shows high number of mutations
It was noticeable that vaccinated and already recovered patients after an omicron infection had a high number of neutralizing antibodies against all known variants of Covid-19. On the other hand, unvaccinated individuals only produced antibodies against the omicron variant.
Since the discovery of the omicron variant, experts have been amazed at the high number of mutations that the variant exhibits. This makes it possible for the variant to circumvent the immune protection more easily. Some of these changes are so severe that Omicron may even have to be regarded as a new subtype of the Sars-CoV-2 virus.
How effective the immune protection actually is after infection with the omicron variant depends on various factors. In addition to antibodies, the immune system has several tools at its disposal to fight diseases. An example of this are T cells, also called memory cells because they are activated when pathogens enter the body and fight them based on previous contacts with the invaders.