Omicron Calls for Rapid Reconsideration of Boosters Among Scientists


As recently as last week, many public health experts vehemently opposed the Biden administration’s campaign to offer booster vaccines for coronavirus vaccines to all American adults. There’s little scientific evidence to support extra doses for most people, the researchers said.

The Omicron variant changed all that.

Scientists do not yet know for sure whether the virus is easier to spread or if it is less vulnerable to the body’s immune response. But with dozens of new mutations, the variant seems likely to avoid significant protection from vaccines.

Booster vaccines strengthen the body’s defenses against infection by clearly raising antibody levels and can help offset the evolutionary advantages of Omicron.

Many of the experts who oppose the boosters now believe that the shot can offer the best defense against the new variant. The extra doses could slow the spread, at least give vaccine manufacturers time to develop a specific formulation for Omicron if needed.

An infectious disease specialist at Bellevue Hospital Center, Dr. “Based on what we know about the potential for immunodeficiency, I would be wrong about giving boosters,” Celine Gounder said. He opposed the omnipotent driving forces of the Biden administration.

Management does not expect scientific consensus. Alarmed by preliminary reports about the Omicron, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday that all American adults should get booster shots.

The first confirmed Omicron infection in the United States was reported Wednesday in San Francisco, in a traveler returning from South Africa to California on November 22. The individual was fully vaccinated – but did not receive a boost – and showed mild symptoms and was said to have improved.

The Omicron variant, first identified in South Africa, has been discovered in at least 20 countries, and the World Health Organization has warned that the risk posed by the virus is “very high”. Following news of the variant spreading in South Africa, countries around the world have restricted air travel to and from South Africa.

Omicron carries more than 50 genetic mutations, more than 30 of which are at the tip of the virus, a protein on its surface. Vaccines train the body’s immune defenses to target and attack these spikes.

So far Dr. Experts such as Gounder had argued that the vaccines’ effectiveness against infection with the Delta variant was reduced, but that it protected most people from serious illness, hospitalization, and death. They said that booster doses should only be recommended for adults over 65 and in long-term care facilities or those with compromised immune systems.

Dr. If Delta was the only threat, boosters would still not be warranted, Gounder and other researchers said. But Omicron may be a more formidable foe.

“Additional doses are appropriate if they are highly resistant to antibodies, which seems likely but unproven,” said John Moore, a virologist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York.

“I’d love to see more data, but having additional protection never hurt anyone.”

Even before the arrival of Omicron, some experts were coming to make supplements for all adults, as cases in the United States had risen again in recent weeks.

An infectious disease physician and CDC consultant at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. “This affects things like elective procedures at multiple hospitals in Massachusetts and elsewhere,” said Camille Kotton. “We really need to put an end to this.”

“Now, more than ever, is the time to get vaccinated or booster shots for people who haven’t yet been vaccinated,” he said.

Dr. Kotton’s initial hesitation was due in part to the lack of research on the safety of booster vaccines in young adults. given a specific rare heart problems In younger men after receiving the second dose of mRNA vaccine, it was not clear whether the benefits outweigh the risks.

But the data currently available eased her concerns, she said—so much so that she urged her college-aged sons to take additional doses.

“Oh yes, I have changed,” he said. “Thinking about the risks and benefits, it’s a really good idea to take additional doses for those who qualify.”

More support for boosters finally among scientists complicating efforts to provide limited numbers of coronavirus vaccines to poor countries. The World Health Organization said that for months, long before Omicron was revealed, an overdose clamor in rich countries had stolen the first doses they desperately needed from poor nations.

Despite the WHO’s designation of Omicron as high risk, the organization has not changed its position on boosters.

WHO director Dr. “At this time, there is no evidence that I know of that boosting the entire population would give otherwise healthy individuals greater protection against hospitalization or death,” Mike Ryan said. said at a press conference on Wednesday.

He and other scientists said it was likely that the uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus through largely unvaccinated populations, such as those in Africa, gave rise to variants like Omicron.

Not all experts line up to support booster shots.

Vaccine director Dr. Paul Offit said the push for extra doses is based on the idea that antibodies are the central aspect of immunity, a false view that overlooks the importance of other parts of the immune system in preventing serious illness and death. Education Center and Food and Drug Administration consultant at Philadelphia Children’s Hospital.

He said he would be more concerned if vaccinated people infected with the Omicron variant were hospitalized in droves. But the limited evidence to date shows that vaccines still prevent serious disease, he said.

“This has always been true – it was true for the first three variants and is likely to be true here,” he said. “If you set your goal as protection against mild illness, then we will continue to grow stronger until the day we die.”

Even if Omicron turns out to be resistant to vaccines, an extra dose of the original vaccines may not be the best solution, said Dr. Ofit said: of this epidemic whose goal is to vaccinate the unvaccinated. ”

But waiting may not be an option.

If lab tests show that Omicron is avoiding vaccines, manufacturers say they’re ready to adapt new versions. This process will take at least a few months, and booster shots of existing vaccines may be needed to help keep the variant under control until then.

Dr. Although the antibodies induced by these vaccines are not as effective at fending off Omicron as they were against previous variants, the increase in amount alone could make up for it, Gounder said.

“You can override some of that low affinity by having higher numbers,” he said.

Dr. If needed, multiple booster doses — first with existing vaccines, then with Omicron-specific versions — need to be perfectly timed because stimulating immunity too often can backfire, Dr. moore. Some immune cells may stop responding to vaccines.

“Here’s where it all gets complicated—definitely no one should sit in dogma here,” he said. “We are reacting in a low-knowledge environment where the consequences are potentially quite serious.”



Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *