Fighting Omicron: Booster Shots Provide Enhanced Protection, Says New Study

New York: A recent study in the US has found that booster shots of COVID-19 vaccine results in increased protection against the Omicron variant.

That’s encouraging news, given that Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson — the three COVID vaccines being used in America – do not offer sufficient protection against the new variant of coronavirus with their routine doses.

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Harvard and MIT detected “low to absent” antibody neutralisation of the Omicron variant with routine doses, Reuters reported. However, people who had received booster doses showed potent neutralisation, the study showed.

The US started giving booster doses to its citizens three months ago.

America’s top health expert Dr Anthony Fauci said the fact that booster doses of existing vaccines are effective against the new variant suggest that there is no need to start developing an Omicron-specific vaccine at this stage.

“Our booster vaccine regimens work against Omicron. At this point, there is no need for a variant-specific booster… If you are unvaccinated, you are very vulnerable — not only to the existing Delta surge we are experiencing, but also to Omicron,” Dr Fauci was quoted as saying by The Washington Post.

Experts in India are still in the process of deciding whether booster shots need to be introduced in the country’s inoculation programme.