Here’s What COVID-19 Vaccine Makers Are Doing To Fight Omicron

  • 📰 TIMEHealth
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 64 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 29%
  • Publisher: 63%

United States Headlines News

United States Latest News,United States Headlines

Public health officials are worried about the latest variant, but vaccine makers are on the case.

, which allowed them to quickly move from getting the right genetic sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and inserting it into their shots to generate a robust immune response. The technology is highly adaptable and means that additional vaccines, directed against new genetic targets on the virus, such as Omicron, will take weeks rather than years.

Whether a vaccine targeted directly against Omicron will be necessary, however, depends on the results of studies that pit existing vaccine-induced antibodies and immune cells against the variant in a lab. If the current protection from vaccines continues to control Omicron, then it will be even more critical for people to get a booster shot of the existing authorized or approved vaccines.

If, on the other hand, the studies show that the existing vaccine protection against Omicron is weak, public health officials and vaccine makers will have to decide two things: first, whether people need to be re-vaccinated against Omicron with two doses of a a new, variant-specific mRNA vaccine; or if a booster with an Omicron-targeted dose will be enough.and AstraZeneca, are also testing how their shots fare against Omicron.

The latest variant isn’t a surprise to vaccine and public health experts, who warn that other variants like it are inevitable if vaccination rates remain low around the world. Viruses mutate when they copy their genetic material to duplicate themselves—basically, when they infect someone. The more infections and the more copying the virus squeezes in, the more opportunities it has to generate mutations and variants like Omicron.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 121. in US

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

NPR Cookie Consent and ChoicesSo in the meantime... How do you explain the poorest, most populated and social people on the world have the fewest new cases and deaths? 🤔 Omicron OmicronVariant
Source: NPRHealth - 🏆 144. / 63 Read more »

Omicron variant 'a great reason to go get boosted,' NIH director says'Because the booster, it basically enlarges the capacity of your immune system to recognize all kinds of different spike proteins it's never seen. This is a great day to go and get boosted' 🙂 So suprise is just corona change 🧬 with speed of 💨
Source: YahooNews - 🏆 380. / 59 Read more »

NPR Cookie Consent and Choices
Source: NPRHealth - 🏆 144. / 63 Read more »

Just be careful...Also DONT PANIC the DRS in SO AFRICA have stated that OMICRON is far less severe then delta causing few if any hospitalizations & it has been around longer than thought & is now DOMINANT STRAIN. That could be good.
Source: USATODAY - 🏆 100. / 63 Read more »

Austria reports first suspected case of Omicron COVID-19 variantAustria has detected its first suspected case of the new Omicron coronavirus variant in the Tirol, authorities in the alpine region said late on Saturday. Omicron COVID Variant Found ONLY in Fully Vaccinated All four Botswana Omicron variant patients were fully vaccinated
Source: Reuters - 🏆 2. / 97 Read more »

NPR Cookie Consent and Choices
Source: NPRHealth - 🏆 144. / 63 Read more »