Astrazeneca and Novavax effective against Corona variant Omicron

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According to data from U.S. pharmaceutical company Novavax, the vaccine Nuvaxovid should provide effective protection against Omikron.

Astrazeneca, meanwhile, pointed to a study suggesting that booster vaccination with the vaccine works well against the coronavirus variant.

Novavax reported in a release an effective immune response – also against the delta variant. A third dose – a so-called booster – would increase this immune response even more, showed the first results of a study on the vaccine’s efficacy in adolescents and as a booster.

The immune response was as much as two to four times higher in adolescents than in adults. Novavax also announced an Omicron-specific vaccine. “We expect clinical trials to begin in the first quarter of 2022,” said Gregory M. Glenn, president of research and development at Novavax. He said there is every indication that nuvaxovide “can play an important role in the ongoing fight against new variants.”

The data were obtained in a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase II study. They will now be submitted for publication and are expected to be available online in the coming days.

Astrazeneca: Number of antibodies “significantly” increased
Meanwhile, Swedish-British pharmaceutical company Astrazeneca, citing a study by Oxford University, which helped develop the vaccine, said the number of antibodies to the variant first discovered in South Africa in November increased “significantly” after a third dose,

The number of antibodies was roughly equivalent to two doses of vaccine against the Delta variant, according to the group – and was higher than in infected people who had recovered “naturally” from Covid-19. Researcher John Bell, who was involved in the study, called it “encouraging that current vaccines have the potential to protect against omicron after a third dose.”

Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer/Biontech and Moderna had previously come to similar conclusions about their booster vaccines. However, there is currently no data on how long the protection lasts.