The risk of reinfection among those previously infected with COVID-19 is “significantly higher” with the omicron variant compared to other strains. This represents a drop from the 80 percent protection from infection found against earlier strains. The study also determined that the Pfizer vaccine is only 33 percent effective at preventing infection caused by the omicron variant, which was first discovered in South Africa.
7 were examined, with about 78,000 attributed to the omicron variant. More than 211,000 positive COVID-19 test results from Nov. The research published Tuesday was conducted by Discovery Health, South Africa's largest private health insurance company. PFIZER VACCINE 70 PERCENT EFFECTIVE AGAINST OMICRON HOSPITALIZATIONSĪ new South African study finds that the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is 70 percent effective at preventing hospitalizations due to the omicron variant. Congress is putting huge cost increases on the development of treatments for rare diseases - from 400-800%. Right now, politicians need a win, and rare disease patients are going to lose. Tell Congress to protect rare disease patients That is why health officials are urging all American adults to get a booster shot. On the other hand, it does significantly weaken the power of two shots of the vaccine in preventing infection, though protection against severe disease could hold up better. There is some early evidence that omicron could be less severe, though. How we got here: Omicron is highly transmissible, helping fuel its rapid rise and displacing some of the delta variant, which has been fueling a spike in the U.S. trajectory appears to be somewhat behind.
For example, officials in Britain have estimated omicron will be the dominant variant there within days. The number is expected to rise quickly given the sharp spikes in omicron in other countries. In New York and New Jersey, the CDC said omicron is already at 13 percent of sequenced cases. 11, up from 0.4 percent one week earlier. The CDC estimated omicron was 2.9 percent of sequenced U.S. The omicron variant now represents about 3 percent of domestic COVID-19 cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Tuesday, showing the new variant is starting to rise in the U.S. The company is expected to deliver only enough of its pills to cover 300,000 Americans before the end of February. Supply is expected to be extremely limited at first. “Emerging variants of concern, like Omicron, have exacerbated the need for accessible treatment options for those who contract the virus, and we are confident that, if authorized or approved, this potential treatment could be a critical tool to help quell the pandemic.” “This news provides further corroboration that our oral antiviral candidate, if authorized or approved, could have a meaningful impact on the lives of many," said Albert Bourla, Pfizer's chairman and chief executive officer. Pfizer added that it believes that the pill will work on the new omicron variant, but additional studies are underway. Takeaway : Health officials stress the pill is not a substitute for the vaccine, but it does have the potential to significantly cut down on hospitalizations and deaths, assuming people start taking the pill within three days of their symptoms starting. Pfizer requested emergency use authorization from the FDA for Paxlovid in mid-November.
The company said the results have been shared with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a part of the company's request for emergency use authorization. Pfizer said that the 2,246 patients in the study were given the pill within three days of symptom onset, adding that they had mild to moderate symptoms as well as an underlying medical condition or an increased risk of becoming severely infected by COVID-19.
Pfizer announced Tuesday that a study found that its oral, antiviral COVID-19 pill Paxlovid reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by 89 percent in high-risk patients.