Amid Omicron spread, here's what WHO says about vaccine shield against new strain

Omicron does not appear to cause more severe transmissions than previous COVID-19 variants and it is "highly unlikely" that the strain will “completely” evade vaccine protections, WHO has reportedly stated. The more SARS-CoV-2 [coronavirus] circulates, the more opportunities the virus has to change. This has created a highly mutated B.1.1.529 variant which the WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution (TAG-VE) designated as ‘Variant of Concern’ Omicron. Omicron has dozens of mutations, more than 50, with 32 mutations on its protein spike that can affect the way it behaves and how vaccines respond to it. 

While the WHO preliminary data suggests that the Omicron variant may not be as dangerous as Delta, the global health body itself says that it is very early to interpret the strain as more research is underway. But the organization does not purport that the Omicron will totally sideline the vaccine protection. WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan described vaccines as the best defense against the coronavirus and insists that there’s no reason it wouldn’t be so for the Omicron variant. WHO in earlier conferences pushed for getting inoculated, stating that the "vaccines remain critical to reducing severe COVID-19 disease and death, as was seen during the dominant circulating variant Delta".

The health organization, however, agrees that the jabs might prove to be "less effective" against Omicron, and its ability to neutralize the B.1.1.529 might wane, acknowledging that there’s a lapse in that protection. WHO's Preliminary evidence also suggests that there may be an increased risk of reinfection with B.1.1.529 a variant of concern. But COVID-19 treatments such as the Corticosteroids and IL6 Receptor Blockers "will still be effective for managing patients with severe symptoms." Earlier when asked whether the Omicron is as or more transmissible than the delta and other mutations, US top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House chief medical adviser said in his televised remarks: “It appears to be. It has a bunch of mutations,"

Drop in antibodies' ability to neutralize Omicron

Omicron variant of concern B.1.1.529 of the novel coronavirus can partially evade the protection from BioNTech- Pfizer BNT162b2 vaccine, and there's a 41-fold drop in the ability of the antibodies to neutralize the omicron variant compared with the original SARS-CoV-2, according to a preliminary study done by the South African scientists released Tuesday. As per the preprint of the study that hasn’t yet been peer-reviewed, the Omicron strain was found to be much better at evading vaccine protection. The Vaccine-induced antibodies reduced threefold in their ability while earlier they neutralized the previous variants. Researchers noted that some of the variants such as Beta that also dominated in South Africa evade immune protection but Omicron’s evasive ability was far more concerning.