Omicron vaccines are coming: Karl Lauterbach gives details of the second booster

Four vaccinations are on the agenda for 2022. Special omicron vaccines are currently being developed for this purpose.

Washington DC – Germany is in the midst of a wave of omicron infections. The Robert Koch Institute reports new incidence and case number records every day. The corona variant* is considered highly infectious and spreads quickly. According to the latest data from the RKI, Omikron already dominates the infection process in Germany. Science is trying to quickly research the mutant of Sars-CoV-2. In addition to the high level of infectivity, it is now known that omicron infections probably lead to less severe Covid 19 courses than delta infections.

Nevertheless, the risk groups are once again the focus of the latest pandemic developments. People with a weak immune system are – despite a lower risk of becoming seriously ill – a “great foe” for Omikron. The most important tool against the corona variant are therefore adapted vaccines, which are probably administered as a second booster. The manufacturers Biontech/Pfizer* and Moderna announced such vaccines at the beginning of 2021. In the spring it will be time. After Biontech/Pfizer, who announced the start of a clinical study at the start of the week, Moderna* has now followed suit.

Omicron variant: Fourth corona vaccination – Moderna starts study for second booster

The US manufacturer of corona vaccines* will test the vaccine on 600 people from the end of January, significantly fewer than Biontech/Pfizer with 1420 test people. According to Moderna, the volunteers received two or three corona vaccinations in advance. Stéphane Bancel, head of the manufacturer, emphasized that the resistance of the antibodies with the “normal” booster vaccination gives reason to be confident: “In view of the long-term threat posed by the so-called immune escape from Omikron, we are still pushing ahead with our Omikron-specific vaccine candidate.”

Bancel’s statement was recently confirmed by a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. According to this, the antibody level against the omicron variant* is 20 times higher one month after the third injection than after the second – but it decreases significantly in the months that follow. “The study shows that the Moderna booster vaccine massively reduces the risk of infection with Omicron. This is exactly the booster vaccination that we are currently offering in Germany alongside Biontech,” Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach * classified the study on Twitter.

Regardless of a possible fourth corona vaccination, the booster campaign is currently running in Germany. The vaccines from the manufacturers mentioned above are used in particular. Another study has shown that, for example, the third vaccination with an inactivated vaccine has little effect.* (tu/AFP) *fr.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.