CDC: Pfizer, Moderna Boosters 90% Effective Against Omicron

Three US trials confirm the third dosage of COVID vaccine’s efficacy against Omicron.

According to three recent trials from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, booster doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have proved to be highly efficient in avoiding Omicron-related hospitalizations.

Booster doses were 90% efficient in keeping persons out of the hospital once infected with the Omicron strain.

According to the research, the dosages were also 82 percent effective in preventing emergency department and urgent care visits.

On Friday, Emma Accorsi of the CDC, one of the study’s authors, said that it definitely demonstrates the necessity of having a booster dosage.

She added that Americans should receive boosters for at least five months after they finished their Pfizer or Moderna series; however, millions of eligible people haven’t had them.

According to health experts, the study was the first large-scale study in the United States to explore vaccination protection against Omicron.

Previous Investigation

The papers confirm previous research – including studies in Germany, South Africa, and the United Kingdom – that currently offered vaccines are less effective against Omicron than previous versions of the coronavirus, but that booster doses boost virus-fighting antibodies to increase the likelihood of avoiding symptomatic infection.

From August until this month, the first research looked at ten states’ hospitalizations, emergency department, and urgent care center visits.

It discovered that three doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines were most beneficial in avoiding COVID-19-related emergency department and urgent care visits.

Protection fell from 94% during the Delta wave to 82% during the Omicron wave.

Protection from only two doses was reduced, particularly if the second dosage had been taken six months earlier.

The second research looked at the COVID-19 case and mortality rates in 25 states from early April through December.

People who had been boosted had the best protection against coronavirus infection, both while Delta was dominant and after Omicron took control.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the two publications online.

The third study

The third study, again headed by CDC experts, was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

It looked at persons who tested positive for COVID-19 between December 10 and January 1 at over 4,600 testing locations throughout the United States.

Compared to unprotected persons, three injections of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were roughly 67 percent effective against Omicron-related symptomatic illness.

Two doses, however, provided no substantial protection against Omicron when assessed many months after the initial series was completed, according to the researchers.

“If you are eligible for a booster and you haven’t gotten it, you are not up to date and you need to get your booster,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a White House briefing on Friday.

Tonia Nissen
Based out of Detroit, Tonia Nissen has been writing for Optic Flux since 2017 and is presently our Managing Editor. An experienced freelance health writer, Tonia obtained an English BA from the University of Detroit, then spent over 7 years working in various markets as a television reporter, producer and news videographer. Tonia is particularly interested in scientific innovation, climate technology, and the marine environment.