EXPLAINER: Boosters key to fight omicron, lot still to learn

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The caller omicron variant took lone a fewer weeks to unrecorded up to dire predictions astir however hugely contagious it is but scientists don’t yet cognize if it causes much terrible illness adjacent arsenic the satellite faces exploding cases conscionable earlier Christmas.

“Everything is riskier present due to the fact that omicron is truthful overmuch much contagious,” said Dr. S. Wesley Long, who directs the investigating laboratory astatine Houston Methodist Hospital — and implicit the past week has tried to enactment location arsenic overmuch arsenic imaginable to debar exposure.

Public wellness officials are uncovering it hard to support up with conscionable however accelerated omicron is spreading nationally and globally. But successful 3 weeks, omicron present makes up 80% of caller symptomatic cases diagnosed by Houston Methodist’s investigating sites. It took the besides precise contagious delta variant 3 months to scope that level, Long said.

Officials expect omicron to go the ascendant mutant successful the U.S. wrong weeks, similar it already has taken implicit successful Britain.

What that volition mean for the satellite is inactive unclear due to the fact that truthful galore questions stay unanswered. Here’s the latest connected what’s known and what’s inactive to larn astir omicron.

HOW MUCH PROTECTION DO VACCINES OFFER?

Vaccines successful the U.S. and astir the satellite bash not connection arsenic overmuch extortion against omicron arsenic they person against erstwhile versions of the coronavirus. However, vaccines inactive assistance — a lot. Lab tests amusement portion 2 doses whitethorn not beryllium beardown capable to forestall infection, a booster changeable of either the Pfizer oregon Moderna vaccine produces virus-fighting antibodies susceptible of tackling omicron.

Antibody levels people driblet implicit time, and a booster revved them backmost up again, by 25 times for Pfizer’s other changeable and 37 times for Moderna’s. No 1 knows precisely what level is precocious capable — oregon however agelong it volition beryllium earlier antibody levels statesman dropping again.

After a booster, the extortion against an omicron corruption inactive appears astir 20% little than extortion against the delta variant, said Dr. Egon Ozer of Northwestern University.

But if the microorganism gets past that archetypal enactment of defense, the vaccinated person further layers of protection.

“The vaccines are going to support you against terrible disease, hospitalization and death,” said Houston Methodist's Long. “And that’s truly the astir important thing.”

Those other defenses see T cells that mobilize to bushed backmost the virus, positive representation cells that, erstwhile reactivated, contention to marque much and stronger antibodies.

WHAT ABOUT NATURAL IMMUNITY?

A anterior corruption doesn’t look to connection overmuch extortion against an omicron corruption although, similar with vaccination, it whitethorn trim the chances of terrible illness.

In South Africa, wherever omicron already has dispersed widely, scientists reported a leap successful reinfections that they hadn’t seen erstwhile 2 erstwhile mutants, including delta, moved done the country.

In Britain, a study from the Imperial College of London connected Friday recovered the hazard of reinfection from omicron was 5 times higher compared to the earlier delta variant.

Health experts accidental anyone who’s survived a bout of COVID-19 inactive should get vaccinated, due to the fact that the operation mostly offers stronger protection.

WHY ELSE DOES OMICRON SPREAD SO FAST?

Scientists are trying to decode the dozens of mutations that omicron carries to fig retired what other is going on. Researchers successful Hong Kong precocious reported hints that omicron whitethorn multiply much rapidly successful the airway than delta did, though not arsenic efficiently heavy successful the lungs.

What scientists can't measurement is quality behavior: Many places were relaxing restrictions, wintertime forced gatherings indoors and question has jumped close arsenic omicron began spreading.

IS OMICRON CAUSING MILDER ILLNESS?

It’s inactive excessively aboriginal to cognize — particularly fixed that if the vaccinated get a breakthrough infection, it should beryllium milder than if omicron attacks the unvaccinated.

Early reports from South Africa suggested milder unwellness but doctors were unsure whether that’s due to the fact that the colonisation is reasonably young — oregon that galore retained immoderate extortion from a caller delta infection.

And that British survey recovered nary grounds that omicron has been milder than delta successful Britain, adjacent with young adults -- who would beryllium expected to person milder unwellness -- having higher rates of corruption with omicron.

"There’s a hint, and I deliberation galore of america are hopeful, that omicron volition beryllium little severe. But I don’t deliberation we tin stake the workplace connected that. We’re inactive talking astir SARS CoV-2, a microorganism that has killed millions of people,” said Dr. Jacob Lemieux, who monitors variants for a probe collaboration led by Harvard Medical School.

WHO’S MOST AT RISK?

Based connected the behaviour of different variants, “if you’re older, if you person underlying conditions, if you’re obese, you’re much apt to person terrible disease. I don’t deliberation it’s going to beryllium immoderate different” than different variants, said Dr. Carlos del Rio of Emory University.

But adjacent if you don’t get precise sick, an omicron corruption could surely ruin the holidays. Experts hold that successful summation to getting vaccinated and boosted, it's omniscient to get backmost to the basics of protection: Wear masks indoors, debar crowds and support your distance.

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Associated Press Science Writer Laura Ungar contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives enactment from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely liable for each content.

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