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Booster Covid-19 vaccine shots give an estimated 70% to 75% protection against mild disease from the new omicron variant, the UK Health Security Agency said on Friday, citing initial findings from a real-world study. The findings are some of the earliest data on the protection against omicron outside of lab studies, which have shown reduced neutralizing activity against omicron. The early real-world data suggest that while omicron could greatly reduce the protection against mild disease from an initial two-dose vaccination course, boosters restored the protection to an extent. (12/10)

A booster shot of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE’s Covid-19 vaccine provides good protection against severe illness from the Omicron variant, while those without a third shot are highly vulnerable, according to a new Israeli study. The findings, similar to those announced last week by Pfizer, suggest countries worried about Omicron’s rapid spread will be able to defend their populations with continued inoculation. ... The study’s bad news, said Dr. Regev-Yochay, director of the infectious-disease epidemiology unit at Sheba Medical Center, is that people who got a “second dose of the vaccine five to six months ago don’t have any neutralizing ability.” (Lieber, 12/12)

Two doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines are substantially less effective at warding off omicron compared to previous variants of the coronavirus, scientists have found. ... In a new study announced on Monday, researchers from the University of Oxford tested blood samples of people 28 days after their second dose of either vaccine. (Taylor, 12/13)

A two-shot course of Pfizer Inc.’s vaccine may have just 22.5% efficacy against symptomatic infection with the omicron variant, but can thwart severe disease, according to laboratory experiments in South Africa. Researchers at the Africa Health Research Institute in Durban issued additional data on a small study released earlier this week from which they made an estimate of the efficacy of the vaccine using modeling. (Sguazzin, 12/11)

Less than three weeks after omicron was identified and given a name, scientists already have the first evidence that the highly mutated coronavirus variant may be better than any of its predecessors at evading immunity from vaccines or previous infection. Early laboratory studies from around the world show a potentially dramatic drop in the body’s frontline antibody response to the variant among people who are fully vaccinated or previously infected. That finding, translated to real-world experience, could mean people will be more likely to get breakthrough infections with omicron than with delta or other variants. (Allday, 12/11)

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci said that Americans will "just have to deal with" the prospect of getting more coronavirus booster shots. Fauci made the statement on Sunday morning and said that the level of protection that the current coronavirus booster shots give to individuals will have to be monitored closely over the next several months. "If it becomes necessary to get yet another boost, then we’ll just have to deal with it when that occurs," Fauci said. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director also said that he's "hoping" that a third mRNA shot will give longer-lasting protection. (Sabes, 12/12)

Covid booster shots are “optimal care” as the deadly virus continues to mutate and spread, but the U.S. government is staying firm for the time being on the definition of fully vaccinated, top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday. Currently, two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or the Moderna vaccines or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine provide full vaccination. Health officials will continue to evaluate whether that definition needs to change, Fauci said on ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos.” (Bursztynsky, 12/12)