Category: South Africa

Preprint: Omicron incompletely escapes immunity induced by the Pfizer vaccine

Laboratory research from South Africa strongly suggests that the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant escapes antibody immunity induced by the Pfizer-BioNTech (Comirnaty) vaccine, but that considerable immunity is retained in people who were both vaccinated and previously infected.… ...More...

Coronaheadsup.com Africa, B.1.1.529, Coronavirus, Genome, Hospitalization, Infection, Omicron, Pfizer/Biontech, South Africa, Testing, Vaccine, Vaccine Breakthrough, Vaccine Waning

Preprint: Omicron is the product of extensive evolution that has left no obvious traces of intermediate forms

The Omicron variant identified in Southern Africa in late November 2021 is the product of extensive evolution within an infection context that has so far left no obvious traces of intermediate forms since it diverged from the B.1.1 lineage (presumably at some time in mid to late 2020).… ...More...

Coronaheadsup.com Africa, B.1.1.529, Coronavirus, Evolution, Infection, Mutation, Omicron, Origins, South Africa, Transmission