New data in Britain showed that booster doses of vaccines against the Corona virus are effective in preventing people with Covid-19 from entering hospitals by up to 88 percent.
New data from the Health Security Authority in Britain confirms that obtaining two doses of the “AstraZeneca”, “Pfizer” or “Moderna” vaccines provides little protection against infection with the new Omicron mutant.
But the ability to guard against developing serious symptoms is clear. So, health officials say, that reinforces the importance of getting a third dose.
British Health Minister Sajid Javid said: “This is promising data that reinforces the importance of vaccines, as they save lives and prevent acute illness.”
“This analysis shows that you are up to eight times more likely to be hospitalized with Covid-19 if you do not get the vaccine,” he added.
The British Health Security Agency has analyzed more than 600,000 confirmed or near-confirmed cases of the Omicron mutation as of December 29 in Britain.
The agency concluded that a single dose of the vaccine reduced the patient’s need to be hospitalized for treatment by 52 percent. The second dose boosted protection against the virus by 72 percent, although after 25 weeks that percentage had fallen to 52 percent.
Two weeks after getting a third dose, that percentage had risen to 88 percent.
The agency’s report stated that there is not enough data so far to determine the duration of this protection.
For those who already had symptoms, the amount of protection after each dose was slightly lower, dropping to 68 percent for those who got the booster dose compared to those who didn’t get vaccinated.
‘Auspicious signs’
A second study conducted by the University of Cambridge confirmed that the probability of patients with an omicron mutation going to the emergency department or hospitalization was reduced by 50 percent compared to those with the previous delta mutant.
The study also found that the likelihood of hospitalization due to Omicron alone was one-third that of hospitalization due to Delta strain.
Susan Hopkins, chief medical advisor for the Health Security Agency, said the data “fits in with the encouraging signs we’re already seeing.”
But she said it was too early to draw conclusions about how bad Omicron infections needing hospital treatment compared to the Delta mutant.
She added that “the high prevalence of Omicron and the number of cases among those over the age of 60 in Britain indicates that there is still a high possibility that the National Care Service in the Kingdom will face enormous pressure in the coming weeks.”
And she continued, “The data shows once again that getting the vaccine, especially the third dose of it, is the best way to protect you and others against infection and acute illness.”