COVID-19 | Pfizer, Moderna booster shots almost 90% effective against Omicron variant, says CDC

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The booster doses, manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, were proven 90 percent effective at keeping people out of the hospital against the Omicron variant of COVID-19, Aljazeera reported quoting US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's studies.

According to the three new studies by US CDC, these booster doses help prevent Omicron-related hospitalizations, following a person gets affected by it.

The data further added that the booster doses are also 82 percent effective at preventing emergency department and urgent care visits.

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“It really shows the importance of getting a booster dose,” Aljazeera quoted CDC’s Emma Accorsi as saying. “Americans should get boosters if at least five months have passed since they completed their Pfizer or Moderna series, but millions who are eligible have not gotten them,” the study says.

As per the health officials, the research is comprised of the first large US studies to look at vaccine protection against Omicron variant.

The CDC research papers even say that available vaccines are less effective against Omicron than earlier versions of the coronavirus. However, a booster dose increases virus-fighting antibodies which help in avoiding symptomatic infection.

Data also found the effectiveness of the vaccines to be at its best following three doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines in preventing COVID-19-associated emergency department. The protection declined to 82 percent during the Omicron wave in comparison to 94 percent during the Delta wave. Those jabbed with booster shots had the highest protection against coronavirus infection both during delta and omicron wave.

The third journal, published by American Medical Association, says those jabbed with three shots of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were 67 percent safer against Omicron-related symptomatic disease compared with unvaccinated people. The journal added that two doses offered no significant protection against Omicron.

“If you are eligible for a booster and you haven’t gotten it, you are not up to date and you need to get your booster,” the news website quoted CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky as saying during a White House briefing on Friday.