New findings suggest that people infected with an early version of the Omicron version of the coronavirus, first identified in South Africa in November, may be vulnerable to reinfection with later versions of Omicron, even if they are vaccinated. Gone and extended.
Researchers in China reported Friday in Nature that vaccinated patients with successful infection with Omicron BA.1 have developed antibodies that can neutralize that virus and the original SARS-CoV-2 virus, but the now circulating Omicron sublineage have mutations that allow them to evade those antibodies. ,
Mutations occur in Omicron BA.2.12.1, which is currently causing the most infections in the United States, and Omicron BA.5 and BA.4, which now account for more than 21% of new US cases Which are not present in BA.1. and Omicron’s BA.2 version.
The researchers found in test-tube experiments, “those new sublineages” specifically evaded SARS-CoV-2 infection and neutralizing antibodies elicited by vaccination.
The monoclonal antibody drugs bebetalovimab from Eli Lilly and silgavimab, a component of AstraZeneca’s Evuseld, can still effectively neutralize BA.2.12.1 and BA.4/BA.5, experiments also showed.
But vaccine boosters based on the BA.1 virus, such as those developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, “may not achieve broad-spectrum protection against the new omicron variants,” warn the researchers.
Previous research that has not yet passed peer review has suggested that uninfected people infected with Omicron are unlikely to develop an immune response that would protect them from other types of coronavirus.
“My personal bias is that while there may be some advantages to having an Omicron-specific vaccine, I think it will be of modest benefit if I stay current with current vaccines and boosters,” said Dr Onima Ogbagu, an infectious disease researcher at Yale. School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut who was not involved in the new study.
“Despite immune evasion, the hope may be that vaccines will still protect against serious disease,” Ogbugu said.
“If you’re due for a booster, get a booster. What we’ve learned clinically is that it’s most important to stay up-to-date with vaccines” to maintain high levels of circulating COVID-19 antibodies in the blood to keep.
Adolfo García-Sastre, a microbiology and infectious disease researcher at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, suggests that better protection may be seen with vaccines that target multiple strains of the virus or with intranasal vaccines. Will increase protection against infection and transmission by generating immunity in the lining of the nose, where the virus first enters.
García-Sastre, who was not involved in the research, said that by the time a type-specific vaccine becomes available, a newer version may well take off.