The omicron coronavirus strain can infect a person vaccinated with two doses of Pfizer, stated Head of the Research Laboratory of the African Health Research Institute in South Africa.
However, the study found that the blood of people who received two doses of the vaccine and had previous coronavirus was mostly able to neutralize the omicron, suggesting that booster doses of the vaccine could help prevent infection.
Researchers tested the blood of 12 people vaccinated with two doses of Pfizer vaccine, according to the laboratory’s website (the article has not yet been peer-reviewed). As a result, the blood of five out of six people who were vaccinated and also previously infected with COVID-19 successfully neutralized the omicron.
Molecular biologist and science journalist Irina Yakutenko commented on the results of the study: “We see a decrease in the efficiency [вакцины] 41 times. For those who were vaccinated and ill, the decrease in neutralization is slightly less, but still very significant, much more than for the previous strains – for example, for the “delta” it was 8 times. “