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Both Pfizer and Moderna are working on vaccines that target Omicron, but will this help us control COVID?Summary
By late 2021, most Australians had been double-vaccinated against COVID-19. The high vaccination rates provided some confidence that the threat from the pandemic was subsiding. But, unfortunately, by mid-December, this optimism had been swept away by a surge of Omicron infections. The key points from this article:
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Emerging research shows there is only about 20 per cent protection from Omicron infection four months after two doses of AstraZeneca, Pfizer or Moderna vaccines (though protection against hospitalisation and death remains much higher).
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A booster dose increases protection against infection, but possibly only short-term.
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Since the emergence of Omicron, both Pfizer and Moderna has announced they're working on vaccines to target the variant, with production promised as early as March 2022.
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Variant-specific vaccines are a reactive measure. By the time we roll out any variant-specific vaccine, that variant may have peaked, and a new variant will likely be on the way.
References
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- Cognitive Biases Make Reasoning About Vaccines Difficult | The Runway (airforce.gov.au)
- Current COVID-19 (coronavirus) scams | The Runway (airforce.gov.au)
- COVID-19 treatments—what are they and how do they work? | The Runway (airforce.gov.au)
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References from the Web:
- Dec 2021 Omicron is supercharging the COVID vaccine booster debate—Nature
- Jan 2022 Omicron-specific vaccine is coming but ‘may not matter—everybody’s going to be infected,’ says expert—CNBC
- Jan 2022 COVID-19 vaccines to fight the Omicron variant will be ready in March. Will we need them?—7News
Source Information ABC-Australia:
- Article Source: ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
- Media Check: ABC News - Media Bias Fact Check (mediabiasfactcheck.com) (sources link)
- Learning Outcomes: RUNWAY Topics, Learning Outcomes | The Runway (airforce.gov.au)
