Wagamaga OP t1_j0i4o0t wrote on December 16, 2022 at 8:30 PM

The latest omicron boosters are 84% effective at keeping seniors 65 and older from being hospitalized with Covid-19 compared with the unvaccinated, according to a study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday.

And seniors who received the omicron booster had 73% more protection against hospitalization than those who only received two or more doses of the original vaccines that were not updated to target omicron, according to the CDC.

The study was conducted from September through November when omicron BA.5 and the even more immune evasive BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 variants were dominant. About 800 seniors with a median age of 76 were included in the analysis.

In a larger study that looked at more than 15,000 adults ages 18 and older, the omicron booster was 57% effective at preventing hospitalization. Adults who received the booster had 38% additional protection compared with people who only received the original shots.

Neither study examined how well people were protected against hospitalization if they were vaccinated and had natural immunity from a previous Covid infection.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/16/omicron-boosters-are-84percent-effective-at-keeping-seniors-from-being-hospitalized-with-covid-cdc-says.html

bluecamel17 t1_j0iegsm wrote on December 16, 2022 at 9:38 PM

Dumb question, but I feel like the messaging around boosters is poor. Is there a new booster or are these still the same ones from last year?

MoobyTheGoldenSock t1_j0ioqvh wrote on December 16, 2022 at 10:52 PM

Original vaccine = 100% wild type

Fall booster (bivalent) = 50% wild type, 50% Omicron

TrumpsBoneSpur t1_j0im9j9 wrote on December 16, 2022 at 10:34 PM

There is a new booster that also works against omicron

Carnifex t1_j0klqco wrote on December 17, 2022 at 10:23 AM

Actually there are at least two, both focus on a different sub strain. Omicron.. Something was the first and then Omicron 4/5 I believe?

mybrainisgoneagain t1_j0mfh88 wrote on December 17, 2022 at 7:50 PM

I found this on immunize BC hope this helps you.

The Moderna bivalent COVID-19 vaccine targets the original COVID-19 virus strain and the Omicron BA.1 subvariant. This vaccine is expected to provide better protection against Omicron subvariants (including against BA.4 and BA.5) than the original COVID-19 vaccines.

In clinical trials, a booster dose of the Moderna bivalent vaccine triggered a strong immune response against Omicron BA.1 and the original COVID-19 virus strain (the two strains it targets). It also generated a strong immune response against the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants.

With the new Pfizer bivalent BA.4/BA.5 vaccine recently approved, people may wonder if it is superior to the Moderna bivalent BA.1 vaccine. At this time there are no clinical data available comparing the immune response from the BA.1 bivalent vaccine to that from the BA.4/BA.5 bivalent vaccine. There is no evidence that the Pfizer bivalent is better than the Moderna bivalent vaccine. Both Omicron-containing COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to cause stronger immune response to Omicron variants and compared to original mRNA vaccines.

As the original mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are very effective at protecting against severe illness and death from COVID-19, it is expected that the bivalent vaccines will also be very effective at protecting against severe illness and death from COVID-19.