As I see it | Omicron threat points to need for independent global vaccine comparison mechanism

Omicron has already become the dominant variant of the coronavirus in the United States, accounting for over 73 per cent of new cases as of last Saturday. It looks inevitable that it will soon overtake the Delta strain worldwide.

What makes Omicron alarming is the high probability of “vaccine escape”, meaning even inoculated people may become infected, although their chances of severe illness should be lower than that for the unvaccinated.

Vaccine manufacturers around the world are racing against time to study how their shots fare against the new variant, both in laboratory settings and in real life. The findings are extremely important for policymakers: should the people be given a third shot? Which third shot should be chosen? Should there be an Omicron-specific vaccine?

Moderna said that a booster dose of its Covid-19 vaccine appeared to improve protection against Omicron.

Separately, Chinese researchers in a non-peer-reviewed paper said Sinopharm’s inactivated boosters showed a significant reduction in neutralising antibody activity, falling by a fifth compared to similar activity against an older strain from Wuhan.