Which vaccines stop Omicron? Search for data moves from labs to real world

As coronavirus variant’s rapid spread forces rethink of Covid-19 vaccine strategies, real-world data can help show jabs’ effectiveness against it

But various challenges surround that data, not least that it is difficult to get until Omicron has infected even more people, and in more countries

Reading Time:6 minutes

Published: 8:00pm, 5 Jan 2022Updated: 8:44pm, 5 Jan 2022

This is the second of a two-part series on the impact of the Omicron variant on vaccine roll-outs around the world. Here, Simone McCarthy explores how real-world data is critical to efforts to develop successful vaccine strategies against Omicron.

Scientists from the Dominican Republic to Hong Kong have been racing to understand the impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant on Covid-19 vaccines, producing numerous laboratory studies in recent weeks showing jabs’ reduced ability to stop this highly mutated strain.

But lab work can tell us only so much, and experts say real-world studies are needed to get a full picture of how vaccines hold up against Omicron – especially in preventing severe disease or death, given that their ability to protect against infection appears reduced.

Initial real-world findings on protection offered by doses from Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson have been released in recent days, adding critical information that could inform national health policies and World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations. Already countries are calling for boosters, which data suggests bolster protection.

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But several factors will determine how clarity emerges on China’s vaccines, judging by accounts from experts who have been involved in similar studies in countries that use them.

Two WHO-licensed Chinese shots – from Sinovac Biotech and Sinopharm – are among the world’s most widely used. These vaccines, made using a traditional technology that relies on an inactivated virus, already had lower effectiveness than vaccines that use the cutting-edge mRNA method.

Which vaccines stop Omicron? Search for data moves from labs to real world

As coronavirus variant’s rapid spread forces rethink of Covid-19 vaccine strategies, real-world data can help show jabs’ effectiveness against it But various challenges surround that data, not least that it is difficult to get until Omicron has infected even more people, and in more countries

As coronavirus variant’s rapid spread forces rethink of Covid-19 vaccine strategies, real-world data can help show jabs’ effectiveness against it

But various challenges surround that data, not least that it is difficult to get until Omicron has infected even more people, and in more countries