Two vaccine doses may NOT be enough to protect against Omicron coronavirus variant, says Pfizer

Lab studies reveal that two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine may not provide enough protection against the Omicron coronavirus variant, the medical company revealed. 

Pfizer says that a third shot is required for a person to have enough antibodies to prevent infection from the Omicron variant.

The news is revealed after preliminary data from the African Health Research Institute (AHRI) released Tuesday showed that those who had received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine had 41 times less antibodies with the ability to fight Omicron than they had for other variants.

Pfizer said the booster dose increases those antibody levels 25-fold.

The New York City based pharmaceutical giant reports that people who have only received two shots of the vaccine may still have some protection from severe symptoms of the virus, though are at risk of infection.  

‘Although two doses of the vaccine may still offer protection against severe disease caused by the Omicron strain, it’s clear from these preliminary data that protection is improved with a third dose of our vaccine,’ Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, said in a statement.

‘Ensuring as many people as possible are fully vaccinated with the first two dose series and a booster remains the best course of action to prevent the spread of COVID-19.’ 

The news comes as the number of countries which have detected a case of the variant within its borders increases to around 50, with 1,700 Omicron cases confirmed worldwide.

In the U.S., 20 states have sequenced a combined 55 cases of the variant, with New York leading the way with 14.

Yesterday, the nation’s top infectious disease expert and leader of the U.S. Covid response, Dr Anthony Fauci, said that he believed the new variant was highly transmissible, but that infection from Omicron was not more severe than that of the Delta variant.

 This is a breaking news story and will be updated