A third Pfizer dose may offer strong protection.
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 | | Daily reported coronavirus cases in the United States, seven-day average.The New York Times |
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Pfizer: Boosters block Omicron |
Laboratory blood samples taken from people one month after they had received a booster shot showed neutralizing antibodies against Omicron. Those antibody levels were comparable to those against previous variants after two doses, the companies said. |
The companies said the finding indicates that two doses alone "may not be sufficient to protect against infection" by the new variant. |
An important caveat: These experiments offer an incomplete picture of how well the vaccine will protect against severe outcomes from Omicron. |
Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the Food and Drug Administration's vaccine advisory committee, said he also wanted "to sound a note of reassurance." |
"The virus has mutated to the point that it has become less neutralizable by antibodies," he said. But he said there is no evidence that the vaccines have become less effective at preventing severe disease. |
"In all likelihood, two doses of an mRNA vaccine will protect you against serious illness," he said. |
Still, the results seemed to underscore the importance of booster shots. |
Dr. Albert Bourla, the chairman and chief executive officer of Pfizer, said the company began developing a version of its vaccine specifically targeting Omicron right after Thanksgiving and could produce it in mass quantities within 95 days. Moderna is on a similar path. |
But Dr. Bourla noted that Pfizer had developed two other prototypes in response to new variants and that neither had proved necessary because the original vaccine worked against the virus's mutations. |
The coronavirus infects fat cells |
The study could help answer one of the questions that have puzzled doctors during the pandemic: Why overweight or obese people, particularly younger adults, have been more likely to develop severe Covid-19 and more likely to die. |
These patients often have health conditions like diabetes that heighten their risk, but scientists have become increasingly convinced that the heightened vulnerability has something to do with obesity. |
If the findings hold up — the study has not yet been peer reviewed or published in a scientific journal — they may shed light not just on why patients with excess pounds are vulnerable to the virus, but also on why certain younger adults with no other risks become so ill. |
It may be that body fat, which has limited immune defenses, is a place where the virus can replicate and continue to propel harmful inflammation. |
"If you really are very obese, fat is the biggest single organ in your body," said Dr. David Kass, a professor of cardiology at Johns Hopkins, adding that the fat "becomes kind of a reservoir" for the virus. |
The study found that the virus causes a type of immune cell that is specific to fat to develop a robust inflammatory response, which results in a cascading inflammation reaction. |
The study's authors suggested the new evidence could point to new treatments that target body fat. They also speculated that body fat might even contribute to long Covid. |
"Whatever happens in fat doesn't stay in fat," said Dr. Philipp Scherer, a scientist who studies fat cells at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, who was not involved in the research. "It affects the neighboring tissues as well." |
What else we're following |
- Celebrity red carpet fashion has grown bigger and wilder since the pandemic.
- Event: The Times is hosting a virtual event on how the pandemic is reshaping New York City's cultural landscape tomorrow. RSVP to attend.
- Opinion: An emergency room doctor in Michigan wrote about his frustration and sadness as unvaccinated people filled beds in his hospital.
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I am a 70-year-old semiretired farmer, so I have adequate money and space. When vaccines became available, I got vaccinated immediately. I displayed a hay bale-man wearing a mask and a large syringe in his arm to encourage others. Now that I am triple-vaccinated, I am substitute-teaching in local schools to help with the Covid vacancies. I try to make learning fun at all grade levels. Everyone I know that did not get vaccinated has now been sick. One neighbor and good friend has been hospitalized for eight weeks and still can't eat, talk or breathe on his own. I get so frustrated to see so many unvaccinated adults, when the evidence for effectiveness and safety is so strong. — Paul Wernette, Remus, Mich. |
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