In its newest technical briefing, the company mentioned that two doses of each the Oxford/AstraZeneca — administered in India as Covishield — and Pfizer/BioNtech vaccines present “much lower levels” of safety towards symptomatic an infection in comparison with the at the moment dominant Delta variant of Covid-19.
However, a 3rd top-up dose does appear to spice up immunity towards the brand new variant, primarily based on an evaluation of knowledge from 581 Omicron instances.
“It is projected that if current trends continue unchanged, the UK will exceed one million infections by the end of this month,” the UKHSA mentioned.
“The preliminary data showed effectiveness against the new variant appears to increase considerably in the early period after a booster dose, providing around 70-75 per cent protection against symptomatic infection. Due to the early nature of the findings, all estimates are subject to significant uncertainty and are subject to change,” it mentioned.
The well being specialists reiterated that vaccines had been nonetheless more likely to provide good safety towards extreme Covid, which required hospital remedy.
Dr Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunisation on the UKHSA, mentioned: “These early estimates needs to be handled with warning however they point out that a number of months after the second jab, there’s a better danger of catching the Omicron variant in comparison with Delta pressure.
“We expect the vaccines to show higher protection against the serious complications of Covid-19, so if you haven’t yet had your first two doses please book an appointment straight away.”
She highlighted the present steering of working from dwelling the place potential, persistently sporting masks in crowded or enclosed areas, washing your fingers commonly and isolating and getting examined when you really feel unwell as vitally vital in decreasing the impression of Covid-19.
The scientific evaluation is launched because the UK recorded one other day of excessive every day infections at 58,194 on Friday.
