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A previous Covid infection or being double-vaxxed offers a strong defence against the new dominant Covid variant, Omicron, say Chinese researchers.
Even so, the new variant seems to have greater capability to elude our immune responses.
Chinese researchers are some of the first to carry out studies of the new variant, which was first identified by researchers in South Africa. It appears to be the most contagious variant so far, but also may be more benign, producing cold-like symptoms.
A research team from China’s National Institutes for Food and Drug Control say that previous infection or vaccination gives strong protection, although they caution the vaccine’s effects wane after five months or so.
A third booster jab may help raise protection levels; it “significantly boosts immunity”, they discovered in test-tube studies of Omicron, but the protection may somehow be “compromised.” They say more research into booster jabs needs to be carried out to understand why this should be so.
(Source: Emerging Microbes & Infections, 2021; 1; doi: 10.1080/22221751/2021.2017757)
