The United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reports that a small study that recruited 581 participants with confirmed Omicron infection may indicate that this new variant is expected to be the dominant one by mid-December. Additionally, the 2-dose regiment with current vaccines do not provide adequate protection against symptomatic infection; Oxford/AstraZeneca may offer less than 10% protection, whereas the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine offers approximately 40%. With the booster, protection increases to 70-75% against symptomatic infection, influencing the UK government’s decision to urge eligible people over 40 to come forward and get the booster. Experts report that if Omicron is as virulent as Delta, it may have the capacity to overwhelm the NHS.
Read the news article here, UKHSA updates here, and the UKHSA technical report here.