{"id":47482,"date":"2022-01-22T09:25:17","date_gmt":"2022-01-22T09:25:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=47482"},"modified":"2022-01-22T09:25:17","modified_gmt":"2022-01-22T09:25:17","slug":"pfizer-moderna-boosters-up-to-90-effective-against-omicron-cdc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=47482","title":{"rendered":"Pfizer, Moderna boosters up to 90% effective against Omicron: CDC"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Three US studies offer more evidence that third dose of COVID vaccine is highly effective against Omicron.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna\u00a0vaccines have proven highly effective at preventing\u00a0Omicron<\/a>-related hospitalisations, according to three new studies by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p>\n

The booster doses were 90 percent effective at keeping people out of hospital after they had become infected with the Omicron variant.<\/p>\n

The doses were also 82 percent effective at preventing emergency department and urgent care visits, data indicated.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really shows the importance of getting a booster dose,\u201d the CDC\u2019s Emma Accorsi, one of the study\u2019s authors, said on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmericans should get boosters if at least five months have passed since they completed their Pfizer or Moderna series, but millions who are eligible have not gotten them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The research comprised the first large US studies to look at vaccine protection against Omicron, health officials said.<\/p>\n

Previous research<\/h2>\n

The papers echo previous research \u2013 including studies<\/a> in Germany, South Africa and the United Kingdom \u2013 indicating available vaccines are less effective against Omicron than earlier versions of the coronavirus, but also that booster doses rev up virus-fighting antibodies to increase the chance of avoiding symptomatic infection.<\/p>\n

The first study looked at hospitalisations and emergency room and urgent care centre visits in 10 states, from August to this month.<\/p>\n

It found vaccine effectiveness was best after three doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines in preventing COVID-19-associated emergency department and urgent care visits.<\/p>\n

Protection dropped from 94 percent during the Delta wave to 82 percent during the Omicron wave.<\/p>\n

Protection from just two doses was lower, especially if six months had passed since the second dose.<\/p>\n

Officials have stressed the goal of preventing not just infection but severe disease.<\/p>\n

\"BidenPresident Biden holds up his sleeve to receive his COVID-19 booster jab [File: Kevin Lamarque\/Reuters]<\/figure>\n

The second study focused on COVID-19 case and death rates in 25 states from the beginning of April through the end of December.<\/p>\n

People who were boosted had the highest protection against coronavirus infection, both during the time Delta was dominant and also when Omicron was taking over.<\/p>\n

Those two articles were published online by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p>\n

Third study<\/h2>\n

The Journal of the American Medical Association published the third study, also led by CDC researchers.<\/p>\n

It looked at people who tested positive for COVID-19 from December 10 to January 1 at more than 4,600 testing sites across the US.<\/p>\n

Three shots of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were about 67 percent effective against Omicron-related symptomatic disease compared with unvaccinated people.<\/p>\n

Two doses, however, offered no significant protection against Omicron when measured several months after completion of the original series, researchers found.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are eligible for a booster and you haven\u2019t gotten it, you are not up to date and you need to get your booster,\u201d CDC Director Dr Rochelle Walensky said during a White House briefing on Friday.<\/p>\n