NIH says COVID-19 vaccine booster jabs 'most likely' effective against Omicron variant

The current COVID-19 vaccines will “most likely” be effective against the new Omicron variant, said the US' National Institutes of Health (NIH) head Francis Collins, adding that boosters have provided especially strong protection against strains like Delta. In an interview with Fox News, he also noted that the variant has a “record” number of mutations. NIH Director addressed that there are concerns that the variant is a “sufficiently different virus due to its unprecedented mutations, particularly in the spike protein, the component of the virus that binds to cells.”

“We do know that this is a variant that has a lot of mutations – like 50 of them, and more than 30 of those in the spike protein, which is the part of the virus that attaches to your human cells if you get infected,” Collins said on a televised interview.

“That is a new record in terms of the number of mutations. It does make you worry, therefore, that it’s a sufficiently different virus, that it might not respond as well to protection from the vaccines, but we don’t know that,” he added. However, he still said that the existing coronavirus vaccines will be effective against the Omicron variant as well. 

Collins said, “It’s clear that in all the previous examples of variants, the vaccines have worked to provide protection, and the boosters have provided especially strong protection against things like [the] Delta [strain].”

“Given that history, we expect that most likely, the current vaccines will be sufficient to provide protection, and especially the boosters will give that additional layer of protection” he added.

WHO on vaccine efficacy against Omicron

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) posted an update on the Omicron variant after it designated the strain as a ‘variant of concern’. On 28 November, the United Nations (UN) health agency said that it is working with technical partners to understand the potential impact of the Omicron variant on vaccines. WHO said in a statement, “Given that history, we expect that most likely, the current vaccines will be sufficient to provide protection, and especially the boosters will give that additional layer of protection.”

(IMAGE: AP)