COVID-19 vaccines will not be enough to withstand the Omicron
variant, warned the CEO of BioNTech, the German company behind the mRNA
vaccine produced with Pfizer.
"We must be aware that even
triple-vaccinated are likely to transmit the disease…It is obvious we
are far from 95 per cent effectiveness that we obtained against the
initial virus," Ugur Sahin told the French daily Le Monde in an interview published on Monday.
Despite this, Sahin said early data from Britain and South Africa is providing us with “reassuring information”.
The latest research from South Africa, where Omicron was first
reported, suggested that two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine
offered 70 per cent effectiveness in reducing the risk of
hospitalisation.
“There will be a loss of effectiveness against
Omicron over time, it's very likely, but it's still to be measured how
quickly. I will not base predictions on preliminary laboratory data but
on real-life data, which is much more appropriate,” the German
immunologist said.
Sahin said testing for COVID-19 is important,
especially for the elderly and during winter, as are other protective
measures such as mask-wearing, adding, “otherwise we will not be able to
control the rapid expansion of this new variant.”
The German
company is already designing a coronavirus vaccine adapted to the new
variant, using Omicron’s spike protein and its 32 mutations as an
antigen. Sahin announced this should be ready by March.
A new Omicron vaccine
“We remain on track
with our 100-day target, which means we should be able to deliver our
first suitable vaccines to Omicron in March, subject to regulatory
approval,” he said.
Some researchers have voiced concern about the
effect of these new vaccines as instead of boosting new immune
defences, they could risk boosting inadequate ones.
Pressed on this, Sahin said: "This principle is an unproven
hypothesis, personally, I don't think this is a real problem. The immune
system has high adaptability and plasticity, and should be able to
activate both, strengthening existing immune responses while generating
new antibodies.”
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