*Scientists found the two-shot course of Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine has just 22.5 percent efficacy against symptomatic infection with the Omicron variant, but can thwart severe disease

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

A two-shot course of Pfizer Incorporated’s Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccine has just 22.5 percent efficacy against symptomatic infection with the Omicron variant, but can thwart severe disease, according to laboratory experiments in South Africa.

ConsumerConnect gathered the researchers at the Africa Health Research Institute in Durban, South Africa, issued additional data on a small study released earlier this week.

The study examined blood plasma samples from 12 participants.

Scientists found Omicron resulted in about a 41-fold reduction in levels of neutralising antibodies produced by people who had received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech SE shot, compared with the strain detected in China almost two years ago, agency report said.

The team of scientists, led by Laboratory Head Alex Sigal, in a preprint released Friday, December 10, 2021, stated this is “essentially compromising the ability of the vaccine to protect against infection.”

However, the team affirmed there continues to be sufficient protection against severe disease.

The team was reportedly the first to show that the variant, found by scientists in South Africa and Botswana and announced November 25 this year, largely, but not totally, could escape the antibodies produced by Pfizer’s Vaccine.

But they noted that a booster shot could increase immunity in consumers. That’s been backed up by studies carried out by Pfizer itself, report stated.

In a related development, preliminary United Kingdom (UK) data released Friday, December 10 also, indicated that boosters from AstraZeneca Plc and Pfizer/BioNTech SE improve protection against the Omicron variant to as much as 75 percent in the early days after the shot.