Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, December 15 ( South African researchers said on the 14th that for the new crown variant virus Omikerong strain, the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine to prevent infection has weakened, but it still has a certain protective effect on preventing vaccinators from developing severe disease after infection with the virus.
South Africa's presidential office issued a statement on December 12 saying that President Ramaphosa felt unwell after attending a memorial service for former President De Klerk in Cape Town earlier in the day, and then tested positive for the new crown virus. Pictured is Ramaphosa attending de Klerk's memorial service in Cape Town. (Photo by Xinhua news agency reporter Lu Tiantian)
According to the Associated Press, researchers at the South African Medical Research Council and South African private health insurer Discovery Health said that compared with people who have not been vaccinated against the new crown, completing Pfizer vaccination can play a 33% immune protection effect on the Omiljung strain and 70% effective against the development of severe disease after infection. During the spread of the Delta strain of the COVID-19 variant virus in South Africa, the Pfizer vaccine was 93% effective against severe illness. The Pfizer vaccine is the most vaccinated vaccine in South Africa. The findings have not been peer-reviewed.
It is unclear to researchers whether vaccinating boosters will improve the vaccine's protective effect on the Omiljung strain, as not many people in South Africa are currently vaccinated with boosters.
The researchers analyzed the results of more than 210,000 COVID-19 tests in South Africa between September 1 and December 7 to reach the above conclusions, of which more than 40% of the tested were adults who completed the Pfizer vaccination.
According to Johns Hopkins University in the United States, the Omiljun strain spreads extremely quickly in South Africa, with an average daily increase in infections reported on November 29 at 8.07 per 100,000 people in the past seven days, and increased to 34.37 cases per 100,000 people on the 13th of this month.
A health worker prepares for COVID-19 at a train station in East London, South Africa, on Oct. 8. (Xinhua News Agency, photo by Yesir)
Relevant studies led by Harvard Medical School in the United States have also confirmed that the Omiljung strain is highly transmissible. Researcher Jacob Lemieux said the Omikejun strain spreads very quickly, even beyond the research team's "most pessimistic" expectations. As for whether the rapid spread of the Olmikron strain will lead to a shortage of resources in hospitals around the world, researchers cannot predict it. In South Africa, although the number of new confirmed cases of the Olmikharong strain is growing rapidly, taking into account vaccinations, the number of adults infected with COVID-19 hospitalization is still 29% lower than when the first wave of the epidemic occurred in 2020.
Some experts warn that it is difficult to draw conclusions about the nature of the Omikejung strain at this stage, as its appearance is not long and hospitalizations may lag by several weeks.
David Dowdy, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins-Bloomberg School of Public Health in the United States, said that more useful information will only emerge when the Amicoron strain spreads among more people. At present, he said, the strain is mainly spread among young people. Their social lives are richer and they are more likely to attend large gatherings. Because of the milder symptoms, young people are also more likely to be unaware of their infection with the Omiljun strain. (Yuan Yuan)