The Omicron Variant and What It Means For Your Vaccination

How to best prepare for the Omicron variant?

Should you get your booster vaccine?

 

It’s been about a month since the new Omicron COVID Variant was detected in South Africa.  The WHO called it a “variant of concern”.

Several different studies concluded that the immunity provided by Covid vaccines strongly reduced after six months. This means that the booster shots are critical to increase antibodies to fight a potential Covid infection. This is now even more important with the emergence of omicron. Despite heavy travel restrictions from Southern Africa, where omicron was first detected, it is now expected that omicron will become the dominant variant in London in less than 48 hours.

According to research from Israel, UK and South Africa, although the vaccines are less effective against the new mutant than against the previously dominant delta, the booster shot will offer the best possible protection to fight a potential omicron infection. This has been recently confirmed by Pfizer-BioNTech as well as Moderna.

Although initially it appeared that the new variant might cause less severe symptoms than the previously dominant delta, the UK already registered a death case of omicron and there is no certainty about how many passed away with omicron in South Africa. Governments and scientists tend to agree that a COVID booster doze is now crucial, more than ever before.

However, it might be wise to check your level of immunity before you ask for the booster. If you’d like to learn more about your immunity, whether it is natural (caused by a previous COVID infection) or vaccine driven, check out our Ultimate Covid Test NuaCell Clinic.