In the past two years, Covid-19 has hop scotched across the globe, rejiggering its genome to better coexist with us.
The latest coronavirus contender, Omicron, has more than 50 mutations, making it the most heavily altered coronavirus variant of concern that researchers have identified to date.
Even in the fully vaccinated, a few antibodies will likely be stumped, and at least a few cells infected.
However, Pfizer said a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine was able to neutralise Omicron variant in lab studies. Even though, the initial two doses appear significantly less effective.
The announcement on Wednesday is the first official statement from vaccine manufacturers on the efficacy of current shots against Omicron.
Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said that lab tests showed a booster dose increased by 25-fold the level of so-called neutralising antibodies against Omicron.
Earlier, Wales’ health minister said they are expecting a significant wave of Omicron that will peak in January.
Scientists believe Omicron could spread more easily than Delta. It could out-compete Delta to become the dominant variant in the UK.
But much is still unknown, and it could still take weeks to understand how severe illness from the variant is and what it means for the effectiveness of vaccines.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) warned in a new press statements about the Covid-19 surge in Europe.
