Pfizer says booster provides strong protection against Omicron

Pfizer-BioNTech says its COVID-19 booster shot appears to provide strong protection against the Omicron variant.

The companies say preliminary lab tests suggest a third dose of its vaccine neutralizes antibodies to the new variant — comparable to the protection two doses provides against the original strain of COVID-19 and other variants.

“Although two doses of the vaccine may still offer protection against severe disease caused by the Omicron strain, it’s clear from these preliminary data that protection is maximized with a third dose of our vaccine,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement.

The company says the booster shot appears to increase protection by 25-fold.

Pfizer-BioNTech are already working towards creating a Omicron-specific vaccine in the event it is required.

Pfizer’s announcement had an immediate impact on U.S. markets. Futures that had pointed to a lower open reversed course in seconds and swung solidly to the positive with the Dow jumping almost 200 points.

WATCH: Pfizer says booster provides strong protection against Omicron

In Canada, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) expanded its recommended eligibility for booster shots in response to reports of waning protection.

The new recommendation was released after an urgent request from the federal government for information on the role of COVID-19 vaccine boosters in fighting the new Omicron variant, though NACI had already been working on updated advice.

Both mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna), were recently authorized for the use and distribution of booster shots by Health Canada. The agency says the booster is authorized for use in people 18 years and older, and is to be administered at least six months after a person has received their full course of vaccination against COVID-19.

Pfizer study hopeful, but there’s a condition: expert

The Pfizer study may just be the ticket we need to get out of the pandemic and turn it into an endemic, according to a Horacio Bach with UBC’s Infectious Diseases Faculty of Medicine.

He says it’s good news but the confidence to end the pandemic can be erased if we see yet another strain of COVID-19.

“As long as we don’t have a new variant that can come at any time, a new superbug,” he said. “That’s the reason it’s very important to get the vaccine. Vaccinated people are protected and for the virus, it’s a problem because when you don’t have a host to infect, it means the virus is looking for a new host. If everyone is vaccinated, you get infected, you destroy the virus, and that’s it.”

That would mean the virus would have less impact on the global population.

“The problem, of course, is not all [of] the global population is vaccinated at the pace that we want.”

The longer it takes for people to get at least two doses, Bach says, the longer the pandemic will take to end — or possibly, it never will.

Read More: B.C. discovers four more Omicron COVID-19 cases

B.C.’s provincial health officer has previously admitted there will always be a small percentage of the population that won’t roll up their sleeves.

“More and more infection you get from the same organism, you develop a better immunity,” Bach said. “So, the people that only have one booster, there’s probably a chance they will get an infection because we know the level of antibodies after six months start to fade. So, these people are more exposed right now and they can get the infection.”

“The problem is we don’t know what will be the long-term effect. We don’t know yet and it’s better to get the second dose. But again, everything is open. We don’t have the final word because changes are coming and we are still stuck. I understand there are many, many studies going on but that’s the reality.”

What does the future look like?

Bach says it’s possible we get a shot every year.

“Again, we need to evaluate that. It’s very early to say. Probably we need to have something like that for a period of time, but definitely the third dose will pump up the level of protecting antibodies. We don’t know how long the immunity will last because we know there is a system that we have in our immune system that is learning from the first infection and making kind of ‘memory’ cells that in the future you are supposed to be protected as well,” Bach explained.

He adds once things have settled down, we’ll continue to see cases but not at the current level.

“We will have pockets of infections around the world. Not big pockets, but pockets here and there because that population was not vaccinated properly. I mean two shots at least, or with the problem of with the immunity that is fading over time.”

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The Omicron variant has at least 30 mutations but so far doesn’t appear to cause a more severe illness. Research is still underway to learn more about it.

On Tuesday, B.C. reported more cases of the Omicron variant in the province, bringing the total to five.

PHO Dr. Bonnie Henry announced the booster program will be expanded and is urging patience for those who have been waiting since they got their second dose more than six months ago.

Starting the end of this week and early next week, B.C. will send invites to people over 65 years of age.

“Please wait for your invitation. It is coming,” Henry said.

The next priority group will be the remaining people who are the clinically extremely vulnerable group — people who are not immunosuppressed, but are at high risk of having severe illnesses.

After that, people under 65 years old will start to receive invitations, which is scheduled to begin in early January.

“We know that this is a strategy that will allow us to tailor our clinics to make sure we have the vaccine available for people and that it will optimize the protection that you get from the primary series and get the booster dose at a time that optimizes the length of protection from the booster dose as well.”

As recommended by NACI, Henry says immunocompromised British Columbians will be eligible for a fourth dose six months after receiving their third.

With files from the Associated Press and Nikitha Martins