Booster Jab Markedly Improves COVID-19 Vaccine Potency: Study

BEIJING, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th May, 2022 ) --:A study by Chinese researchers has found that the COVID-19 booster vaccination can markedly reduce the immune escape of the Omicron variant, underscoring the necessity for the eligible population to get a third booster jab to combat the pandemic.

The researchers from Fudan University and Pigentech Lab revealed that sera from individuals vaccinated with two doses of an inactivated whole-virion vaccine show weak to no neutralization efficacy.

However, the boosters, either homologous or heterologous ones, can markedly improve neutralization titers against all Omicron sub-lineages, according to the study published recently in the journal Cell Host and Microbe.

The Omicron variant has evolved into four sub-lineages -- BA.1, BA.1.1, BA.2 and BA.3 -- and BA.2 is the dominant one worldwide. The neutralization titers for Omicron sub-lineages were significantly reduced, by more than 100-fold, in comparison to those for the virus wild type, according to the study.