Digital Desk: South African scientists discovered that two novel sub lineages of the Omicron coronavirus variant can evade antibodies from previous infections well enough to cause a new wave, but are significantly less able to thrive in the blood of patients who have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
The
experts were looking into Omicron's BA.4 and BA.5 sublineages, which were added
to the World Health Organization's monitoring list last month. They collected
blood samples from 39 people who had been infected with Omicron when it first
appeared at the end of last year.
Only
fifteen people were vaccinated, eight with Pfizer's shot and seven with
J&J's, while the remaining 24 were not.
"The
vaccinated group exhibited around a 5-fold higher neutralisation capacity...
and should be better protected," according to the report, which was issued
as a pre-print over the weekend.
When
unvaccinated samples were exposed to BA.4 and BA.5, antibody production was
nearly eightfold lower than when they were exposed to the original BA.1 Omicron
lineage. The vaccinated people's blood indicated a threefold reduction.
Officials
and scientists in South Africa said on Friday that the country may be entering
a fifth COVID wave sooner than predicted, blaming a continuous surge in infections
that appears to be driven by the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron sub-variants.
Only
about 30% of South Africa's population of 60 million is fully vaccinated.
