Omicron Boosters Won’t Help Small Covid Illnesses: But They’ll Stop Hospitalizations

Omicron booster is a vaccine that contains two messenger RNA components of the coronavirus.” The vaccine does not assure 100% protection. But it is something”, said Dr. Ruth Link-Gelles.

When you are planning to go for a trip with your loved ones or spend time with elderly relatives, this new bivalent booster gives some protection from infection. It may help from infecting your loved one. Taking some precautions is better than having no protection at all.

We won’t have a definite answer on how well the new bivalent boosters are effective against mild covid illness.  But the experts say that it will likely prevent hospitalizations.

The study did not look at hospitalization and more research is needed to study the effectiveness of omicron boosters. However, experts believe the shots will provide better protection when compared with those who haven’t been vaccinated yet.

According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found omicron boosters are less than 50% effective against mild covid illness.

Omicron Booster Vaccination Gives Protection To Children

The study also found people who received the boosters were better off than those who only got the old shots. Their protection is considered to be ranging from 28% to 56%. The vaccine’s effectiveness against covid mild illness was low.

A professor of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College states that “ The boosters will give you additional protection and you shouldn’t rely on this vaccine. 

The boosters work against the original Covid strain that originally appeared in Wuhan, China in 2019 as well as Omicron BA.5. The original shots only include the covid strain.

More than 360,000 people with strong immune systems were included in the CDC research. This test was conducted from September to November when omicron BA.5 was dominant. Of the participants, some of them received boosters and others were unvaccinated. Then, it compared those who tested positive for covid with those who did not.

However, the study didn’t explain how boosters are effective and perform against severe diseases. It’s unclear whether they provide better protection against hospitalization. The  CDC said that it will provide data on more severe outcomes.

Andrew Pekosz, a virologist at Johns Hopkins University, said that the vaccine is better against severe diseases than mild illnesses.

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According to an analysis published by the commonwealth fund and Yale school of public health states updated omicron booster vaccination gives protection to children that prevent thousands of pediatric hospitalizations and millions of missed school days.

Andrew Pekosz,  a virologist at Johns Hopkins University, said” it’s better than nothing. It doesn’t assure the protection is incredibly high against infection. But they will protect against hospitalization.  The vaccines are much better against severe disease than mild illness”. 

“ The aim of omicron booster is not only the protection against mild disease but also protecting against severe disease”, said Offit, an infectious disease expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who helped to develop the rotavirus vaccine.

According to CDC data, around 35 million people have received the vaccines.

Reference:

🔵 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n.d) CDC Recommends The First Updated Covid-19 Booster Available [Online] at: https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0901-covid-19-booster.html

🔵 National Library of Medicine (n.d) Current evidence on the efficacy of COVID-19 booster dose vaccination against the Omicron variant: A systematic review Available [Online] at:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35246846/