Xolile Bhengu
Discovery Health and the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) have partnered in providing evidence supporting the efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccine against the new Omicron variant.
Discovery Health CEO Dr Ryan Noach said the scheme, which has administered over three million vaccines, found that the population-level study showed that high levels of protection are maintained following double vaccination with the Pfizer vaccine.
Noach said the full two doses of Pfizer offers 70% protection from Covid-19 admission in the case of Omicron infection.
“This protection is maintained across age groups and in the face of a range of chronic illnesses.
“For those who have recovered from a previous bout of Covid-19 over the course of 2021 there is a relatively high risk of reinfection with Omicron,” he said.
He added that for the general adult population there is a 29% lower overall hospital admission risk linked to Omicron infection relative to South Africa’s first wave of infection in mid-2020.
SAMRC Professor Glenda Gray said because the Omicron variant was so transmittable, there was risk of further mutation, but still believed existing vaccines were effective.
“The short incubation period and short duration of illness may mitigate against this. However one would need to look at the duration of shedding. In people who don’t have good immune responses, clearing the virus may be prolonged,” said Gray.
She said they were looking at the efficacy of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) booster vaccine against the new Covid-19 variant.
“Although we have had lots of breakthrough infections, there have been minimal admissions and as of now no deaths, demonstrating that the vaccine is working against severe disease. We will have the analysis done on vaccine efficacy very soon.”
She added that children under 12 should be vaccinated as seen in the USA.
“No one has died during Omicron from the J&J vaccine and that is encouraging,” she said.
Gray shared that the SAMRC had recorded over 218,000 healthcare worker vaccinations.
