The AstraZeneca vaccine does not protect against infection by the omikron variant, the Pfizer vaccine still somewhat. That is what Jaap van Dissel, head of infectious disease control at RIVM, said in the House of Representatives. A booster shot can increase the protection back to 75 percent.
It is still unclear whether the vaccines’ protection against hospitalization as a result of infection with the omikron variant has also declined sharply, although Van Dissel said the first signs are not looking good. “I think right now the call is mainly: booster, booster, booster.”
Omikron is expected to become the dominant variety at the beginning of January. While delta infections are slowly decreasing, omikron infections are expected to rise rapidly in January.
“We still don’t know a lot of things,” said Van Dissel. One of the questions that still remains is whether omikron is now more contagious. “That is not an open door. It may also be the case that the built-up protection against the variant is less”. According to Van Dissel, the result is the same anyway: the spread is two to three times faster.
Additional measures
Those who have been fully vaccinated now have an average of about 50 percent protection against an infection in the delta variant. With omikron this is therefore a lot lower, according to data from a preliminary small study from the United Kingdom.
“In England it offers no protective effect for complaints of an infection,” says Van Dissel. “That’s not to say that it wouldn’t do anything against hospitalization and ICU admission. We just don’t have those numbers yet.”
According to Van Dissel, boosting is therefore the most important weapon in the fight against the new variant. According to him, whether enough people have themselves tested again will determine how we get through the coming wave. “That booster is what it’s all about now. The booster will determine to a large extent how many additional measures we will have to take in the future.”
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