ST. PETERSBURG, February 1. /TASS/. The protection against the Omicron coronavirus strain among those who were vaccinated more than six months ago decreases almost 12-fold, Deputy Director for Research of the Smorodintsev Research Institute of Influenza Darya Danilenko said at a seminar entitled Omicron in Russia and worldwide.
"For those who were inoculated 6-12 months ago, we see that the ability to neutralize the Omicron variant <...> significantly drops. So here, it practically drops 12-fold, yet at the same time, if people have been revaccinated recently, this ability increases significantly and this is only a seven-fold decrease. So overall, this should encourage us to revaccinate," she said.
According to the scientist, Omicron is observed to have the fastest spread, the highest frequency of reinfections and worse retention of protection post-vaccination than Delta. The new variant affects the entire population but teens and young people aged 10-29 are the most susceptible.
"What's good for us is that it replicates worse in lung tissue than to bronchi, that is, this virus predominantly affects the upper airways. According to data from Europe, the percentage of severe cases caused by Omicron is significantly lower. <...> Therefore, the probability of death is also much lower," the expert noted.
According to the researcher, the wave of Omicron will eventually recede but it is difficult to forecast how soon this will happen. "On one hand, the virus' antigenic properties are changing - this is natural, the virus is evading the immune response particularly under those conditions when we are conducting mass inoculation. And on the other hand, a certain adaptation is observed with the virus turning into what we've been expecting of it for so long as a result - into a certain seasonal acute respiratory viral infection when it causes an infection that does not result in the development of a serious illness," she said.