US Study: Omicron Markedly Resistant to Vaccines, Booster Shots

*Canada lifts travel ban on Nigeria, 9 other African countries

Our correspondents

A new study by Columbia University in the United States says the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is “markedly resistant” to existing vaccines and antibody treatments, and that even booster shots may provide only modest protection against infection.

This is coming on the heels of Canada’s decision yesterday to lift the ban on foreign travellers from Nigeria and nine other African countries, over Omicron.

The draft study on Omicron resistance was led by renowned American researcher, Dr. David Ho, and early evidence suggests the lightning quick-spreading strain is likely to cause a massive wave of so-called breakthrough infections even among fully vaccinated people.

“We found Omicron to be markedly resistant to neutralisation in individuals vaccinated with one of the four widely used COVID-19 vaccines. Even serum from persons vaccinated and boosted with mRNA-based vaccines exhibited substantially diminished neutralising activity against Omicron,” says the study.

The study is still in the so-called “pre-print” stage, meaning it has not been reviewed by other experts or edited by any scientific journal. It was released last Wednesday by the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, which is now focused on fighting COVID-19.

The study says existing antibody therapies, like the monoclonal antibody cocktails that are credited with saving many lives during current and previous COVID-19 waves, appear to be mostly ineffective against Omicron.

It also noted that natural antibodies from previous infections are not effective in warding off Omicron, meaning people who have had COVID-19 in the past are virtually unprotected from reinfection in the coming Omicron wave.

The Omicron variant has now been detected in over 70 countries. It has a high number of mutations (32) in its spike protein, and preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection, when compared with other variants of concern.

Researchers and scientists are intensifying their investigations to understand the transmissibility, severity and impact of the Omicron variant in relation to the available vaccines, diagnostics and treatment and whether it is driving the latest surge in COVID-19 infections.

Working with African governments to accelerate studies and bolster the response to the new variant, World Health Organization (WHO) is urging countries to sequence between 75 and 150 samples weekly.

“The detection and timely reporting of the new variant by Botswana and South Africa has bought the world time. We have a window of opportunity but must act quickly and ramp up detection and prevention measures. Countries must adjust their COVID-19 response and stop a surge in cases from sweeping across Africa and possibly overwhelming already-stretched health facilities,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.

The emergence of Omicron is rattling countries around the globe and underlines the importance of pandemic preparedness – the focus of a special session of the World Health Assembly that wrapped up this week.

Countries agreed to launch a global process to draft and negotiate a convention, agreement or other international instrument under the WHO Constitution to strengthen pandemic prevention preparedness and response.

Canada Lifts Travel Ban on Nigeria, 9 Other African Countries

Meanwhile, Canada announced yesterday the lifting of a ban on foreign travellers from Nigeria and nine other African countries.

The country also re-imposed testing, warning that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 risks quickly overwhelming hospitals.

Apart from Nigeria, the travel restriction on flights is also lifted on South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, Namibia, Malawi and Egypt.

Canadian Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos was quoted as announcing this at a news conference.
He said the lifting of the travel ban would take effect from 11:59 pm today.

The restriction had been announced last month “to slow the arrival of Omicron in Canada and buy us some time,” he said.

“But with Omicron now spreading within Canada it is no longer needed,” he added.
Pre-arrival negative PCR tests for all travellers would also be reinstated as of December 21, Duclos said, while repeating a government warning earlier this week that “now is not the time to travel.”

Officials said laboratory tests have confirmed as at yesterday nearly 350 cases of the Omicron variant across Canada.

The total average daily COVID case count, meanwhile, has jumped by 45 per cent in the past week to about 5,000.
“It is expected the sheer number of Omicron cases could inundate the health system in a very short period of time,” said Chief Public Health Officer, Theresa Tam.